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https://hackaday.com/2010/08/06/dummy-loads-and-heat-sinks/ | Dummy Loads And Heat Sinks | Mike Szczys | [
"Tool Hacks"
] | [
"bench panel",
"dummy load",
"mosfet",
"power supply",
"switching"
] | In [Dave’s] latest episode of the EEVblog
he takes a look at constant current dummy loads
. These are used to test power supply designs and instead of just chaining resistive loads together every time he’s decided to look into building a tool for the job. What he ends up with is a reliable constant current load that can be dialed anywhere from 1.5 mA up to just over 1A. There’s even an onboard meter so you don’t have to probe the setting before use.
It may look like he sent his design off to the board house for production but that’s actually a re-purposed PCB. In walking though his junk-box assembled dummy load [Dave] shares some great tips, like using multiple 1% resistors instead of shelling our for one large and accurate power resistor. But our favorite part comes at about 12:00 when he takes us through some rough math in calculating heat sinks. We’ve always just guessed, but like any good teacher, [Dave] explains the theory and then measures the actual performance taking the guesswork out of the design. See for yourself after the break.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8xX2SVcItOA]
[Thanks Strider_mt2k] | 21 | 21 | [
{
"comment_id": "166182",
"author": "Osgeld",
"timestamp": "2010-08-06T15:15:50",
"content": "Impressive, I learned something from one of his videos (aside from how to blow up a multimeter)",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "166187",
"author": ... | 1,760,377,396.517288 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2010/08/06/make-your-own-mindstorm-sensors/ | Make Your Own Mindstorm Sensors | Mike Szczys | [
"Peripherals Hacks"
] | [
"lejos",
"mindstorm",
"nxt",
"rangefinder",
"sensor"
] | [Stewart Allen] acquired a Mindstorm kit about a month ago and he’s already
building his own sensors for it
. He wanted a more accurate range finder with a narrower measurement field than the stock sensor. Mindstorm has the option to communicate with sensors via an I2C bus. [Stewart] set up an ATtiny45 to act as a the slave on the bus, facilitating the analog measurement of the distance voltage by using and lookup table, and handling the data transfer with the NXT brick. His testing setup is pictured above, with an AVR Dragon for programming the tiny45 and a Bus Pirate for sniffing the I2C data during the development process. The sensor, looking great on a professionally made PCB he ordered, requires a simple driver that [Stewart] hammered out for use with leJOS, the
alternative
Mindstorm
firmware we’ve seen before
. | 16 | 16 | [
{
"comment_id": "166161",
"author": "ejonesss",
"timestamp": "2010-08-06T13:47:44",
"content": "the advantage here is if the sensors are classified as medical device because of their sensitivity then by making your own you do not need a license or a doctor working on the inside to get you medical gr... | 1,760,377,396.338255 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2010/08/05/bluetooth-multimedia-remote/ | Bluetooth Multimedia Remote | Mike Szczys | [
"digital audio hacks"
] | [
"bluetooth",
"multimedia",
"remote",
"skype"
] | [Mathieu] spent three months developing this
multimedia remote control
. It connects to a PC via USB or Bluetooth and communicates with Winamp to pull down track information for display on a Nokia LCD screen. It can also be used as a wireless headset via the two on-board jacks. [Mettieu] thinks it’s just a small hop away from working as a Skype client if you take the time to write a plugin for that API. | 17 | 17 | [
{
"comment_id": "165969",
"author": "zool",
"timestamp": "2010-08-05T22:15:15",
"content": "not bad, yeah could be used for other stuffi always thought winamp should have made their own mp3 player (i mean like an ipod/zune/etc..)",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
... | 1,760,377,396.570375 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2010/08/03/robot-boxing-with-wrist-watches/ | Robot Boxing With Wrist Watches | Mike Szczys | [
"home entertainment hacks"
] | [
"chronos",
"ez430",
"plastic",
"robots",
"servo",
"watch"
] | The classic injection molded plastic Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em Robots has been
upgraded to use motion control
. The project uses four
TI Chronos watches
, one on each wrist of both players. In the video after the break we get a good look at the guts of the base unit. We’re quite impressed with the quality craftsmanship that went into retrofitting the plastic bots with four servos each. The electronics include some bells and whistles such as an SD card that records scores and can replay a match via saved inputs. If you’ve got a couple of these watches on hand we’d love to see you port this project and
make it a Punchout controller
.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WA5Bgmt-rL8 | 7 | 7 | [
{
"comment_id": "165256",
"author": "svofski",
"timestamp": "2010-08-03T19:23:39",
"content": "tee-eye tee-eye tee-eye blah blah",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "165262",
"author": "Anon",
"timestamp": "2010-08-03T19:33:02",
"content"... | 1,760,377,396.287504 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2010/08/03/driving-with-android/ | Driving With Android | Mike Szczys | [
"Android Hacks",
"Tool Hacks"
] | [
"bluetooth",
"gp-gc021",
"radio control",
"rc"
] | [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tIx2ihZ7728]
[Elrik] converted an RC car so that
it can be controlled with an Android phone
. He wisely uses the accelerometer for steering with a button for forward and another for reverse. There’s even control for the headlights. The car itself has had a servo retrofit for steering but it’s the Bluetooth module that catches our eye. It’s a GP-GC021 which you can get your hands on for under $20. It has a serial UART for easy interface with a microcontroller at up to 9600 baud.
Now you can
convert over that larger vehicle
to use Bluetooth instead of WiFi, just don’t hurt yourself. And if you’re just starting out with writing Android apps, don’t miss our series:
Android Development 101
. | 5 | 5 | [
{
"comment_id": "165287",
"author": "cde",
"timestamp": "2010-08-03T20:48:22",
"content": "The android source is missing from the page.Nice to see this done, but would have been cheaper to get a car that already had direction control. Then the attiny could have controlled it with normal transisters.... | 1,760,377,396.756094 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2010/08/03/reverse-engineering-apples-recharging-scheme/ | Reverse Engineering Apple’s Recharging Scheme | Mike Szczys | [
"iphone hacks",
"ipod hacks"
] | [
"apple",
"charger",
"ladyada",
"minty boost",
"usb",
"voltage divider"
] | [vimeo=http://vimeo.com/13835359]
[Ladyada] has been hard at work
reverse engineering the charging method used by Apple
products. This saga takes us through the years as new devices were released and subsequently broke
Minty Boost’s
charging capabilities. It seems the data lines were gradually adopted as a means for iPhones and iPods to identify the charger that had been connected. By adding voltage dividers to the D+ and D- lines you can instruct the handheld to pull 1 Amp (with data voltages of 2.8v and 2.0v) for wall chargers or 0.5 Amps (2.0v on both data lines) for portable chargers. In the video above [Ladyada] removes the surface mount resistors from a commercial charger in order to measure the voltage divider and discover the secret. | 52 | 49 | [
{
"comment_id": "165197",
"author": "Darkrocker",
"timestamp": "2010-08-03T17:06:41",
"content": "Wow… now THIS is what hacking is all about. Uncovering apple’s dirty secrets so we wont be forced into buying more of their products :D",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
... | 1,760,377,396.837478 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2010/08/03/diy-guided-missile-err-model-rocket/ | DIY Guided Missile (…err Model Rocket) | Jake W | [
"Arduino Hacks",
"Toy Hacks"
] | [
"arduino",
"guided",
"missile",
"pro mini",
"rocket"
] | Hackers [Navic] and [K.o.D] have fitted an Arduino Pro Mini and an array of components into an off the shelf rocketry kit to
create a guided model rocket
, taking the whole idea of
Arduino-based space technology
to another level
The Arduino reads signals from internally mounted accelerometers, and adjusts balsa fins (via 4 micro servos) to correct the rocket’s flight path. Due to the nature of model rocketry, the active guidance is limited to the 3 seconds that the rocket is traveling upwards. A valiant effort nevertheless. Videos of the rocket’s maiden voyage, and a system check after the break.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sKiLbdQ7d1c]
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=swjb5wQ1JXU] | 116 | 50 | [
{
"comment_id": "165130",
"author": "neorazz",
"timestamp": "2010-08-03T13:46:44",
"content": "If you’ve got an onboard controler why not use the accelerometer data to time the firing of the 2nd and 3rd…etc stages for longer sustainded flight on low end rockets",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": ... | 1,760,377,396.67586 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2010/08/02/android-controlling-mindstorms-nxt/ | Android Controlling Mindstorms NXT | Mike Szczys | [
"News",
"Robots Hacks"
] | [
"android",
"bluetooth",
"lego",
"mindstorm",
"nxt"
] | [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bEEVwf6E10M]
Here’s
an Android device controlling a LEGO Mindstorms robot
. [Josh] and a couple of his colleagues developed software to get both Android 2.1 (video above) and Android 1.6 (
video
) to work as Bluetooth control devices. The NXT cube is running
leJOS
, a Java virtual machine, allowing you to program Mindstorms using Java. Although their code is at an early Alpha stage, this shows that it works and is a very welcomed tool for NXT development once they get to a more stable point and release it to the masses. | 13 | 13 | [
{
"comment_id": "165007",
"author": "Kyle",
"timestamp": "2010-08-03T01:08:14",
"content": "Is it just the youtube video or am I missing a link somewhere. Still interesting to see and hope to see more of this project here",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comme... | 1,760,377,396.720708 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2010/08/02/handheld-plays-snes-and-nes-carts/ | Handheld Plays SNES And NES Carts | Mike Szczys | [
"handhelds hacks",
"Nintendo Hacks"
] | [
"nes",
"portable",
"psone",
"retro duo",
"snes"
] | [Lovable Chevy] finished her portable build, ending up with
a handheld that takes both SNES and NES cartridges
. We’ve got to say congratulations on reaching the finish line as her first
build log
post was in March of ’08. But it was worth the wait. The little device, which is a mash-up of the hardware from a
Retro Duo
along with a PSone screen and 4250 mAh battery, looks quite nice thanks to her skill and patience when building the case. Take a look at the obligatory demo video after the break.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mX36JHB1ONc] | 23 | 23 | [
{
"comment_id": "164971",
"author": "Mikey",
"timestamp": "2010-08-02T22:39:37",
"content": "This is amazing.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "164973",
"author": "Stuart",
"timestamp": "2010-08-02T22:41:53",
"content": "This is excell... | 1,760,377,396.394113 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2010/08/02/light-bulb-form-factor-computer/ | Light Bulb Form-factor Computer | Mike Szczys | [
"Multitouch Hacks"
] | [
"camera",
"computer",
"light bulb",
"luminAR",
"projector"
] | This
computer can be mounted in any standard light bulb socket
. It uses a pico projector combined with a camera to generate a touch display wherever you shine it. The photo above and the video after the break show the bulb in a motorized lamp arm but that’s just smoke and mirrors, the bulb itself is the core concept. We think there’s real potential for home-built versions. We’ve seen touch
displays similar to this that mount on the side of a laptop
, but why have the computer around at all? Ditch the USB connection for wireless and have it connect to your home server for processing power. It becomes a perfect solution for places that aren’t traditionally computer friendly. For instance, that
kitchen computer you don’t want to touch
with dough-encrusted hands becomes washable when the display is projected on a cutting board.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XV5V-dQW8CI]
[Thanks Ryan] | 21 | 21 | [
{
"comment_id": "164956",
"author": "chibiace",
"timestamp": "2010-08-02T21:54:38",
"content": "pretty cool. easy access to projected boardgames, and shining the screen on the wall would make it alittle easier on your neck",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comm... | 1,760,377,396.455282 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2010/08/05/rgb-vu-meter/ | RGB VU Meter | Mike Szczys | [
"Peripherals Hacks"
] | [
"18F2550",
"lm2576",
"pic",
"usb",
"VU meter"
] | [Simon Inns] turned out this
VU meter with a 16 RGB LEDs
. He’s using three 16-bit TLC5940NTG LED drivers for the project. They’re not cheap chips but they do a great job. If you were looking to save on parts [Simon] found there’s more than enough brightness and any loss due to multiplexing would not be a problem. The device connects to a computer via USB thanks to the PIC 18F2550 which he’s used in
his past VU meter projects
. One of the design choices he made was to use a switching power supply. The LM2576 (
datasheet
) has no problem sourcing 3A at 5V and in addition to two electrolytic capacitors which are commonly used with linear regulators, you just need to add a diode and an inductor.
The meter offers several different configurations which are set on the PC side of things. These include the colors that are used and if the entire bars is used as one meter or split into sections to display both audio channels. Check it out after the break.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J3BraNUj2cY] | 18 | 18 | [
{
"comment_id": "165946",
"author": "Tim",
"timestamp": "2010-08-05T21:11:18",
"content": "Here’s my idea… Use the R, G, and B color channels to display three overlapping bars representing low, mid, and high frequencies.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"commen... | 1,760,377,396.892531 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2010/08/05/txtbomber/ | TxtBomber | Mike Szczys | [
"Arduino Hacks",
"News"
] | [
"chalkbot",
"graffiti",
"ink",
"txtbomber"
] | The txtBomber is a high-tech graffiti printer
developed by [Felix Vorreiter]. Details are a bit scarce but the video clip after the break proves that this works quite well. [Felix] admits this is Arduino powered but we’re going to have to guess at the rest of the setup from the pictures. He says there are built-in-pens so we’d bet there’s a felt-tip type of thing going on and those look like seven solenoids that actuate them. He posted a picture of the handle side of the device and we can make out two wheels that are connected to LEGO gears. This tracks movement of the txtBomber across a surface in order to synchronize the printing process. There’s no sign of an LCD so it looks like you have to pre-program the messages before you go out into the field.
This is akin to
the Chalkbot
, but the messages that leaves wash away with the rain. This one seems like it might get you into some trouble if you get caught
leaving permanent tags
around the neighborhood.
[vimeo=http://vimeo.com/2109234]
[Thanks Kermit M] | 22 | 22 | [
{
"comment_id": "165914",
"author": "pod",
"timestamp": "2010-08-05T19:07:33",
"content": "reminds me of that nike street printer of some years ago :)",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "165924",
"author": "KnMn",
"timestamp": "2010-08-05T19... | 1,760,377,397.935078 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2010/08/05/using-makerbot-for-dishwasher-repair/ | Using Makerbot For Dishwasher Repair | Mike Szczys | [
"Repair Hacks"
] | [
"blender",
"dishwasher",
"makerbot",
"part",
"replacement"
] | [Daryll Strauss’] dishwasher had some problems that he traced to a worn out part on the upper spinning arm. The hackerspace he belongs to has a Makerbot and he though this would be the perfect opportunity to
print his own replacement part
. He picked up some inexpensive digital calipers and set to work mapping out the dimensions of the broken piece. He took his hand-drawn cross section and built a replica part in Blender. Once he had it just right he generated the g-code and printed the part. His replacement works very well, and it’s a bit thicker (by design) than the original so hopefully that means it will hold up longer. | 30 | 30 | [
{
"comment_id": "165859",
"author": "osgeld",
"timestamp": "2010-08-05T18:03:57",
"content": "so instead of going to the appliance repair shop and spending a few bucks were suposta use a 400$ makerbot and make a crappy rough looking replacement which will fail?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": ... | 1,760,377,397.322349 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2010/08/05/android-development-101-part-5droiddraw-information-tracker-completed/ | Android Development 101 – Part 5:DroidDraw & Information Tracker Completed | Greg R. Jacobs | [
"Android Hacks",
"Software Development"
] | [
"android",
"dev"
] |
In this tutorial we are going to cover completing the Information Tracker using DroidDraw to design the layout of this project. This will give you insight into an alternative to the stock layout manager in the eclipse environment and how DroidDraw functions. DroidDraw can be your best friend when designing Android applications or your worse enemy if you don’t know the layout of the application and how it works. This will show you the basics to this program and how to incorporate it into your development process. This is significantly easier than the
previous post
but will teach skills on other programs to help development such as DroidDraw.
We will start out by downloading
DroidDraw
and starting it up using the downloaded
.exe
after extracting the files. After the program is up the interface is pretty straight forward. The left side of the program is the device screen and what it will look like when we run the application. The right hand side of the application gives you the objects you can place on the screen on the top half as well as displaying the generated code for you on the bottom half. This is a very unique program because you can not only choose to generate code into the bottom half of the right screen but also paste code and generate a layout of what your program already looks like to enhance it further. The pictures below will give you an idea of the layout so the paragraph below is a bit easier:
First we are going to change the
absolute layout
on the screen to a
ScrollView
. To do this we navigate to the top left of the program to the drop down menu that says
RootLayout
and change it to
ScrollView
. Then we are going to add a
LinearLayout
to the screen by navigating to the top right of the program where the tabs are and click
Layouts
. Drag the one titled
LinearLayout
to the screen on the left and drop it there. Now while it is still selcted, go to the tab on the right called
Properties
and click it. We are changing the width and height of the
LinearLayout
to
fill_parent
and then clicking
Apply
to make the change. Going back to the
Layouts
screen we are going to select
TableLayout
and drop it into the
LinearLayout
then go to the
Properties
and change it to
fill_parent
on both height and width.
Now that we have the layouts sorted out, we are going to start dropping widgets onto the screen to make the interface more interactive. To start out with we need a label that will ask for a number. Drag and drop a
TextView
from the widget tab to the screen then go to properties and change the width to
fill_parent
and the text to
Number:
. Now we need to add a TextBox (a.k.a. EditText) under the label so we drag it from the widgets to the screen and change the properties for width to
fill_parent
, the text to a blank field and the id to
@+id/NumRewards
. Then we are adding another Label, using
fill_parent
for width and changing the text to
Date:
and applying the changes. Now we add a
DatePicker
right under the label and change the id to
@+id/Date
and apply the changes. Now we need a button to be able to pull information out of our form when it is pressed, so drag a button over and change the id to
@+id/Add
and the text to
Add
then click
Apply
. At this point we have to add 2 more labels and 2 more textboxes so I will let you complete this and give you the information to change on them. The first label’s text will need to change to say
Numbers For This Month:
and the first TextBox variables that need to change is the id goes to
@+id/RewardsMonthly
. The second label will need to say
Numbers To Date:
and the ID of the second textbox will need to change to
@+id/RewardsTD
. The code will be given below if something goes wrong but playing around with the interface of DroidDraw is the best way to learn the fastest way to produce an interface with it.
Now that our interface has been laid out we need to generate it using the button at the top of the program entitled
Generate
. This will fill the bottom right of the screen that you can copy and paste into the
main.xml
file. When pasting code into the xml file you will notice in the screenshot above that my textboxes below the button are greyed out. This is accomplished by adding
android:enabled=”false”
befor the closing
>
in the EditText nodes. This will allow you to display info and not let anyone change it. Here is the code generated from DroidDraw without the enabled feature added in:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<ScrollView
android:id="@+id/widget33"
android:layout_width="fill_parent"
android:layout_height="fill_parent"
xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
>
<LinearLayout
android:id="@+id/widget29"
android:layout_width="fill_parent"
android:layout_height="fill_parent"
android:orientation="vertical"
>
<TableLayout
android:id="@+id/widget34"
android:layout_width="fill_parent"
android:layout_height="fill_parent"
android:orientation="vertical"
>
<TextView
android:id="@+id/widget35"
android:layout_width="fill_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:text="Number:"
>
<!--<span class="hiddenSpellError" pre=""-->TextView>
<EditText
android:id="@+id/NumRewards"
android:layout_width="fill_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:textSize="18sp"
android:phoneNumber="true"
>
<!--<span class="hiddenSpellError" pre=""-->EditText>
<TextView
android:id="@+id/widget37"
android:layout_width="fill_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:text="Date:"
>
<!--<span class="hiddenSpellError" pre=""-->TextView>
<DatePicker
android:id="@+id/Date"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
>
<!--<span class="hiddenSpellError" pre=""-->DatePicker>
<Button
android:id="@+id/Add"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:text="Add"
>
</Button>
<TextView
android:id="@+id/widget41"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:text="Numbers For This Month:"
>
</TextView>
<EditText
android:id="@+id/RewardsMonthly"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:textSize="18sp"
android:enabled="false"
>
<!--<span class="hiddenSpellError" pre=""-->EditText>
<TextView
android:id="@+id/widget43"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:text="Numbers To Date:"
>
</TextView>
<EditText
android:id="@+id/RewardsTD"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:textSize="18sp"
android:enabled="false"
>
<!--<span class="hiddenSpellError" pre=""-->EditText>
</TableLayout>
</LinearLayout>
</ScrollView>
Here is the screenshots with the
enabled=”false”
implemented in the layout file:
Now that our layout is complete we can start by making the project. We have walked through how to make a project from previous posts so this should be familiar. This time I will leaving making the project completely up to you. After the project is made we can start coding the adapter for the database that we will heavily utilize. Most of this will be standard by now, except for the select functions where we want to grab data using specific criteria. Here is the code for
DBAdapter.java
:
package com.gregjacobs.infotracker;
/**
* @author Greg
*
*/
import java.util.Calendar;
import java.util.Date;
import android.content.ContentValues;
import android.content.Context;
import android.database.Cursor;
import android.database.SQLException;
import android.database.sqlite.SQLiteDatabase;
import android.database.sqlite.SQLiteOpenHelper;
import android.util.Log;
public class DBAdapter
{
public static final String KEY_ROWID = "_id";
public static final String KEY_YEAROFREWARDS = "YearOfRewards";
public static final String KEY_MONTHOFREWARDS = "MonthOfRewards";
public static final String KEY_DAYOFREWARDS = "DayOfRewards";
public static final String KEY_NUMOFREWARDS = "NumOfRewards";
private static final String TAG = "DBAdapter";
private static final String DATABASE_NAME = "BlockbusterRewards";
private static final String DATABASE_TABLE = "tblRewards";
private static final int DATABASE_VERSION = 1;
private static final String DATABASE_CREATE =
"create table tblRewards (_id integer primary key autoincrement, "
+ "YearOfRewards text not null, MonthOfRewards text not null," +
"DayOfRewards text not null," +
" NumOfRewards int not null );";
private static final Date date = new Date();
private final Context context;
private DatabaseHelper DBHelper;
private SQLiteDatabase db;
The code above is pretty standard from what we have seen so far. The only thing that I want to point out is the fact that i have a column for the day, month and year each instead of combining them into one row. I did it this way so that when referencing month and day i could do it quickly without too much code in the SQL statement added. The rest should look pretty familiar.
public DBAdapter(Context ctx)
{
this.context = ctx;
DBHelper = new DatabaseHelper(context);
}
private static class DatabaseHelper extends SQLiteOpenHelper
{
DatabaseHelper(Context context)
{
super(context, DATABASE_NAME, null, DATABASE_VERSION);
}
@Override
public void onCreate(SQLiteDatabase db)
{
db.execSQL(DATABASE_CREATE);
}
@Override
public void onUpgrade(SQLiteDatabase db, int oldVersion,
int newVersion)
{
Log.w(TAG, "Upgrading database from version " + oldVersion
+ " to "
+ newVersion + ", which will destroy all old data");
db.execSQL("DROP TABLE IF EXISTS titles");
onCreate(db);
}
}
//---opens the database---
public DBAdapter open() throws SQLException
{
db = DBHelper.getWritableDatabase();
return this;
}
//---closes the database---
public void close()
{
DBHelper.close();
}
//---insert a title into the database---
public long insertRewards(String yearRewards, String monthRewards, String dayRewards, String numRewards)
{
ContentValues initialValues = new ContentValues();
initialValues.put(KEY_YEAROFREWARDS, yearRewards);
initialValues.put(KEY_MONTHOFREWARDS, monthRewards);
initialValues.put(KEY_DAYOFREWARDS, dayRewards);
initialValues.put(KEY_NUMOFREWARDS, Integer.parseInt(numRewards));
return db.insert(DATABASE_TABLE, null, initialValues);
}
public int getAllRewards()
{
Cursor cursor = db.rawQuery(
"SELECT SUM(NumOfRewards) FROM tblRewards", null);
if(cursor.moveToFirst()) {
return cursor.getInt(0);
}
return cursor.getInt(0);
}
public int getMonthlyRewards()
{
Cursor cursor = getMonthRewards();/*db.rawQuery(
"SELECT SUM(NumOfRewards) FROM tblRewards WHERE MonthOfRewards = " +
Calendar.MONTH + " AND YearOfRewards = " + Calendar.YEAR, null);*/
if(cursor.moveToFirst()) {
return cursor.getInt(0);
}
return cursor.getInt(0);
}
//---retrieves all the titles---
public Cursor getMonthRewards()
{
Calendar cal = Calendar.getInstance();
int year = cal.get(Calendar.YEAR);
String WHERE = "MonthOfRewards = " + date.getMonth() + " AND YearOfRewards = " + year;
return db.query(DATABASE_TABLE, new String[] {
"SUM(" + KEY_NUMOFREWARDS + ")"},
WHERE,
null,
null,
null,
null);
}
}
getMonthlyRewards
gets all of the items in the
getMonthRewards()
method that pertain to a particular month and shows them in one of the textboxes under the button we are going to utilize in the layout. The
getAllRewards()
method will be called to show the accumulation of the items we have gotten to date.
We now move onto the
.java
file that we labeled
InfoTracker.java
. This file will utilize code that attaches an event listener to the button in our layout and when pressed it will update our textboxes below it. The code in this
.java
file has not been optimized for efficiency, it was designed to just work. My challenge to you is to understand this code, if you don’t like they way it looks, then make it better. Here is the code for
InfoTracker.java
:
package com.gregjacobs.infotracker;
import android.app.Activity;
import android.content.Context;
import android.os.Bundle;
import android.view.View;
import android.view.View.OnClickListener;
import android.widget.Button;
import android.widget.DatePicker;
import android.widget.EditText;
import android.widget.Toast;
public class InfoTracker extends Activity {
/** Called when the activity is first created. */
DBAdapter db = new DBAdapter(this);
EditText rewards;
EditText rewardsMonthly;
EditText rewardsTD;
DatePicker dateRewards;
@Override
public void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
try
{
super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
setContentView(R.layout.main);
rewardsTD = (EditText)findViewById(R.id.RewardsTD);
rewardsMonthly = (EditText)findViewById(R.id.RewardsMonthly);
db.open();
rewardsTD.setText(String.valueOf(db.getAllRewards()));
rewardsMonthly.setText(String.valueOf(db.getMonthlyRewards()));
db.close();
// Capture our button from layout
Button button = (Button)findViewById(R.id.Add);
// Register the onClick listener with the implementation above
button.setOnClickListener(mAddListener);
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
Context context = getApplicationContext();
CharSequence text = ex.toString();
int duration = Toast.LENGTH_LONG;
Toast toast = Toast.makeText(context, text, duration);
toast.show();
//System.out.println(ex.getMessage());
}
}
// Create an anonymous implementation of OnClickListener
private OnClickListener mAddListener = new OnClickListener() {
public void onClick(View v) {
long id = 0;
// do something when the button is clicked
db.open();
try{
//setContentView(R.layout.main);
rewards = (EditText)findViewById(R.id.NumRewards);
dateRewards = (DatePicker)findViewById(R.id.Date);
rewardsMonthly = (EditText)findViewById(R.id.RewardsMonthly);
rewardsTD = (EditText)findViewById(R.id.RewardsTD);
id = db.insertRewards(String.valueOf(dateRewards.getYear()),
String.valueOf(dateRewards.getMonth()),
String.valueOf(dateRewards.getDayOfMonth()),
rewards.getText().toString());
rewardsTD.setText(String.valueOf(db.getAllRewards()));
rewardsMonthly.setText(String.valueOf(db.getMonthlyRewards()));
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
Context context = getApplicationContext();
CharSequence text = ex.toString() + "ID = " + id;
int duration = Toast.LENGTH_LONG;
Toast toast = Toast.makeText(context, text, duration);
toast.show();
//System.out.println(ex.getMessage());
}
db.close();
}
};
}
The code in this example was all covered in other tutorials with the only exceptions being that when we start this application we make a call to the database and see if anything is new and we make a call after we press the button to constantly update the numbers in the textboxes below. Also, the fact that we close the database after making a call differs from other applications we have made as this will possibly cut down on the battery usage instead of keeping it open the whole time. The last part we will have to do is the
strings.xml
file, so here is the code:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<resources>
<string name="app_name">Information Tracker</string>
</resources>
Here are the files from my project so you may use them in comparison:
DBAdapter.java
|
InfoTracker.java
|
Main.xml
Now we have completed the Information Tracker and have a basic understanding of how DroidDraw works. This is the second to last tutorial in our series so Android Development 101 is almost over with only one last stop to make. The next tutorial will cover packaging up and signing your application into an .apk file that you can easily deploy onto your own device or market it the world using the Android Market. Until the next tutorial, Happy Hacking!
Continue on to Part 6:
Getting Ready For Market! | 5 | 5 | [
{
"comment_id": "165894",
"author": "dext0rb",
"timestamp": "2010-08-05T18:39:29",
"content": "thanks for these android tuts. looking forward to the apk packaging one. keep up the good work.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "165922",
"author":... | 1,760,377,397.390933 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2010/08/05/cray-inspired-pc-case/ | Cray-inspired PC Case | Phil Burgess | [
"computer hacks"
] | [
"case",
"casemod",
"cray",
"pc",
"retrocomputing",
"supercomputer"
] | 35 years following its introduction, and despite fewer than 100 systems deployed, the Cray-1 remains one of the most recognizable computers in history; it is a timeless icon of pure supercomputer badassery. Custom case builder [Daryl Brach] pays homage to this classic with his
third-scale model housing two modern PC motherboards
.
In an interesting reversal, the base of the model — the upholstered bench that housed cooling and power distribution for the original Cray — holds the PC motherboards and storage, while the upper section is currently just for show but may house a
water cooling
rig in the future. The paint scheme is inspired by the Cray-1 on display at the Smithsonian, though Daryl’s model does make a few modern concessions such as
LED
lighting. Hinged panels in the base flip open to access the systems’ optical drives (perhaps to watch
Tron
on DVD).
The Cray-1 ran at
80 MHz
and could house up to eight megabytes of memory…just about unfathomable performance in its day. It’s not clear what processors [Daryl] chose to outfit his system with, but regardless, even an entry-level modern PC doesn’t just run
circles
around its progenitor, it runs
ray-traced glass spheres
around it. Technology marches on, but good design never goes out of style. | 23 | 22 | [
{
"comment_id": "165827",
"author": "Brad Hein",
"timestamp": "2010-08-05T16:14:59",
"content": "Nice! Reminds me of a warp core, sort of.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "165829",
"author": "cpmike",
"timestamp": "2010-08-05T16:21:47",
... | 1,760,377,397.259622 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2010/08/05/recyclebot-digests-milk-jugs-to-feed-makerbot/ | Recyclebot Digests Milk Jugs To Feed MakerBot | Phil Burgess | [
"cnc hacks",
"green hacks"
] | [
"hdpe",
"makerbot",
"plastic",
"recycle",
"recycling",
"reuse"
] | The old saying, “garbage in, garbage out” may need to be re-evaluated.
Students at Victoria University of Wellington are developing a machine that recycles old milk jugs
, extruding an HDPE plastic filament that can then be fed into a
MakerBot
for
3D printing
.
The process involves grinding the plastic into small pieces, then pressing these through a heater and
extruder
plate to produce a continuous bead of the proper diameter for the MakerBot.
Nichrome
wire — the stuff of hair dryers and
toasters
— forms the heating element, and this must be regulated within a specific temperature range for different plastics. The initial grinder design is
hand-cranked
, but they are working toward a fully automated system. It appears that the machine could also
recycle
old MakerBot output, provided the grinder has sufficient torque.
So one man’s
trash
really
is
another man’s
treasure
. We envision a future of crazy-haired makers rooting through their neighbors’ garbage, feeding their Recyclebots’ hoppers “Mr. Fusion” style. | 20 | 17 | [
{
"comment_id": "165801",
"author": "nave.notnilc",
"timestamp": "2010-08-05T15:26:33",
"content": "the big question is, how much does this weaken the plastic. it’d be interesting if they printed objects with this and compared strength with fresher filament.also, I am really not a fan of those slid... | 1,760,377,397.550574 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2010/08/05/giant-insect-rover-works-for-us/ | Giant Insect Rover Works For Us | Caleb Kraft | [
"Robots Hacks"
] | [
"lunar",
"space"
] | [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vwFrCpYavt4]
ATHLETE
, or the All Terrain Hex-Limbed Extra Terrestrial Explorer, looks pretty cool. This Hexapod is actually a pair of 3 legged robots that have joined together to haul some cargo off the top of stationary module. While this time-lapse shows it going pretty slowly, you get a hint at the end that it isn’t required to be quite so lethargic. One of the really cool things about this robot is the fact that the legs are multi purpose. It has a “tool belt” from which it can pull different attachments for its feet. There are many more
videos
available on their site.
[via
BotJunkie
] | 14 | 14 | [
{
"comment_id": "165772",
"author": "Marc",
"timestamp": "2010-08-05T14:11:44",
"content": "haha very nice video",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "165777",
"author": "anon9573",
"timestamp": "2010-08-05T14:28:14",
"content": "One step ... | 1,760,377,397.81402 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2010/08/02/head-up-uses-facial-recognition-and-augmented-reality/ | Head-up Uses Facial Recognition And Augmented Reality | Mike Szczys | [
"Wearable Hacks"
] | [
"augmented reality",
"EeePc",
"facial recognition",
"head-up",
"quickcam",
"vr920",
"vuzix"
] | Scouter is a facial recognition system and head-up display
that [Christopher Mitchell] developed for his Master’s Thesis. The wearable device combines the computing power of an eeePC 901 with a Vuzix VR920 wearable display and a Logitech Quickcam 9000. The camera is mounted face-forward on the wearable display like a third eye and the live feed is patched through to the wearer. [Christopher’s] software scans, identifies, and displays information about the people in the camera frame at six frames per second.
We can’t help but think of the Gargoyles in
Snow Crash
. This rendition isn’t quite that good yet, there’s several false positives in the test footage after the break. But there are more correct identifications than false ones. The fact that he’s using inexpensive off-the-shelf hardware is promising. This shouldn’t been too hard to distill down to an inexpensive dedicated system.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1EHzyBljB0E] | 25 | 25 | [
{
"comment_id": "164893",
"author": "Henrik Pedersen",
"timestamp": "2010-08-02T18:31:26",
"content": "Having worked a lot with the EEE PC’s before and written custom software I must say…DAMN THIS IS GOOD, There ain’t anything to work with. If I remember correct this type of EEE pc has 1,6 ghz cpu a... | 1,760,377,397.615108 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2010/08/02/android-development-101-part-4advanced-databasegui-code-and-ddms/ | Android Development 101- Part 4:Advanced Database/GUI Code And DDMS | Greg R. Jacobs | [
"Android Hacks",
"Software Development"
] | [
"android sdk",
"code"
] | In this tutorial we are going to cover some advanced database code as well as tie in to some more advanced GUI techniques. We left off on the
last tutorial
showing you how to insert and select data to/from the database as well as make a table. What we need now is to be able to delete data if it is not needed and update it if we entered it incorrectly. We will tie these abilities in with some more advanced functionality utilizing a long press on the screen for delete and for updating we will just press the data we want to edit.
The project we are about to dive into is from the Android Developers website called
Notepad v2
with modifications to make it geared more towards our
RandomQuotes
Project. We are using an already made example then modifying it because it covers more advanced ground on the GUI and database sides which is excellent for beginners and great for more advanced users to push on with. Since the items will be displayed to us in a ListView we can no longer entitle this project RandomQuote but will instead use EnhancedQuotes as our project name. Just to be clear, we will be creating a whole new project instead of copying another one over. Here is the required information below to make the project
Project Name:
EnhancedQuotes
Build Target:
Android 1.5
Application Name:
EnhancedQuotes
Package Name:
com.gregjacobs.enhancedquotes
Create Activity:
QuotesMain
Min SDK Version:
3
After your project is created we can start some more advanced GUI work and integrate that with some update and delete statements. At this point, I’d like to start dividing our code into different files based on the need of the application. This is important in modern programming because it allows us to stay organized and execute functions for different screens or layouts efficiently and effectively. For this project we are going to split our code into 3
.java
files and we are going to have 3 different layout files as well. We will start off with the basics by creating a new class file in our package
com.gregjacobs.enhancedquotes
called
QuotesDBAdapter
. This will contain our database code but instead of using the previous database file we created, we will start a new one. Lets look at how Google does it and see whats available other than Raw Queries from the previous tutorial.
package com.gregjacobs.enhancedquotes;
import java.util.Random;
import android.content.ContentValues;
import android.content.Context;
import android.database.Cursor;
import android.database.SQLException;
import android.database.sqlite.SQLiteDatabase;
import android.database.sqlite.SQLiteOpenHelper;
import android.util.Log;
public class QuotesDBAdapter {
static Random random = new Random();
public static final String KEY_QUOTES = "quotes";
public static final String KEY_ROWID = "_id";
private static final String TAG = "QuotesDbAdapter";
private DatabaseHelper mDbHelper;
private SQLiteDatabase mDb;
/**
* Database creation sql statement
*/
private static final String DATABASE_CREATE =
"create table tblRandomQuotes (_id integer primary key autoincrement, "
+ "quotes text not null);";
private static final String DATABASE_NAME = "Random";
private static final String DATABASE_TABLE = "tblRandomQuotes";
private static final int DATABASE_VERSION = 2;
private final Context mCtx;
private static class DatabaseHelper extends SQLiteOpenHelper {
DatabaseHelper(Context context) {
super(context, DATABASE_NAME, null, DATABASE_VERSION);
}
@Override
public void onCreate(SQLiteDatabase db) {
db.execSQL(DATABASE_CREATE);
}
@Override
public void onUpgrade(SQLiteDatabase db, int oldVersion, int newVersion) {
Log.w(TAG, "Upgrading database from version " + oldVersion + " to "
+ newVersion + ", which will destroy all old data");
db.execSQL("DROP TABLE IF EXISTS tblRandomQuotes");
onCreate(db);
}
}
/**
* Constructor - takes the context to allow the database to be
* opened/created
*
* @param ctx the Context within which to work
*/
public QuotesDBAdapter(Context ctx) {
this.mCtx = ctx;
}
public QuotesDBAdapter open() throws SQLException {
mDbHelper = new DatabaseHelper(mCtx);
mDb = mDbHelper.getWritableDatabase();
return this;
}
public void close() {
mDbHelper.close();
}
Looking at the code above, all of the imports should look familiar as well as everything leading up to this point. This is standard database code to implement in your Android applications. In the code below we start getting into separating our SQL statements into sections and using the functions that were stated in the previous post.
public long createQuote(String quotes) {
ContentValues initialValues = new ContentValues();
initialValues.put(KEY_QUOTES, quotes);
return mDb.insert(DATABASE_TABLE, null, initialValues);
}
Looking at the insert statement the first variable would be the database table we are inserting into, the next variable is if we have a null set of values we would enter that here and the last is the values being inserted into the table.
public boolean deleteQuote(long rowId) {
return mDb.delete(DATABASE_TABLE, KEY_ROWID + "=" + rowId, null) > 0;
}
The delete statement holds three values in its method. The first variable to enter would be the database table, the second being the where statement if there was one. In this case we will need it but for some instances you may not. The last variable is the Where statement arguments but if you included them in the previous part, that will work too. It is good to note that putting “?” in your where statement and defining them in the third variable can be done as well.
public Cursor fetchAllQuotes() {
return mDb.query(DATABASE_TABLE, new String[] {KEY_ROWID, KEY_QUOTES}, null, null, null, null, null);
}
public Cursor fetchQuote(long rowId) throws SQLException {
Cursor mCursor =
mDb.query(true, DATABASE_TABLE, new String[] {KEY_ROWID,
KEY_QUOTES}, KEY_ROWID + "=" + rowId, null,
null, null, null, null);
if (mCursor != null) {
mCursor.moveToFirst();
}
return mCursor;
}
FetchAllQuotes
runs a query against the database and grabs the id and the quotes field and return all the results to a cursor. The first variable is the database table, the second is the columns the statement should return, third being the rows from the columns to return if there are any, fourth being the selection arguments, fifth is the group by SQL function, sixth is a having SQL statement, and seventh is the order by SQL function. For this we are only filling the first two and the rest can be null. The
fetchQuote
uses the same function but specifies what row its looking for.
public boolean updateQuote(long rowId, String title) {
ContentValues args = new ContentValues();
args.put(KEY_QUOTES, title);
return mDb.update(DATABASE_TABLE, args, KEY_ROWID + "=" + rowId, null) > 0;
}
For the update statement we still need the database name, the new variables for any given row and finally the row number in which to update.
public int getAllEntries()
{
Cursor cursor = mDb.rawQuery(
"SELECT COUNT(quotes) FROM tblRandomQuotes", null);
if(cursor.moveToFirst()) {
return cursor.getInt(0);
}
return cursor.getInt(0);
}
public String getRandomEntry()
{
int id = 1;
id = getAllEntries();
int rand = random.nextInt(id) + 1;
Cursor cursor = mDb.rawQuery(
"SELECT quotes FROM tblRandomQuotes WHERE _id = " + rand, null);
if(cursor.moveToFirst()) {
return cursor.getString(0);
}
return cursor.getString(0);
}
}
These two functions above were mentioned last post and will be used to generate a random quote on the screen using a Toast.
Next we are going to cover all of the
.xml
files starting with the
strings.xml
file. this will contain the strings for all three of our layout XML files. The code should be pretty straight forward with already having done two or three examples. The
strings.xml
is as follows:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<resources>
<string name="app_name">Quotes Tracker</string>
<string name="no_quotes">No Quotes Yet</string>
<string name="menu_insert">Add Quote</string>
<string name="menu_delete">Delete Quote</string>
<string name="title">Quote:</string>
<string name="confirm">Confirm</string>
<string name="edit_quotes">Edit Quote</string>
<string name="genRan">Generate Random Quote!</string>
</resources>
After the
strings.xml
file we are going to move onto
row.xml
in the layout folder. It is not created yet so we are going to create a new XML file. We do this by right clicking on the layout folder and navigating to
New
and then to
Other…
. After this we will scroll down until we find the
XML
folder. Open it and double click on the file called
XML
. Change the name of the XML file from
NewFile.xml
to
row.xml
. The file will be created and the console may come up and present you with an error but we will fix that in a second. Now we get to the code we are going to insert into the XML file:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<TextView android:id="@+id/text1" xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"/>
The source code for this layout is a label or TextView that will insert multiple times into the
main.xml
for every entry we have. We will move onto the
main.xml
to show you how this is done.
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<LinearLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
android:orientation="vertical"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
>
<ListView android:id="@+id/android:list"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"/>
<TextView android:id="@+id/android:empty"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:text="No Quotes!"/>
<Button
android:id="@+id/genRan"
android:layout_width="fill_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:text="@string/genRan"
/>
</LinearLayout>
We are using a
LinearLayout
above and a
ListView
and a single Label that displays “No Quotes!” if the database is empty. Even though the items in the database are shown we will want to generate one randomly and that is what the button is doing at the bottom of the ListView. We can now move onto the
edit.xml
here which a new XML file (same spot as last time) will need to be created:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<LinearLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
android:orientation="vertical" android:layout_width="fill_parent"
android:layout_height="fill_parent">
<LinearLayout android:orientation="horizontal"
android:layout_width="fill_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content">
<TextView android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:text="@string/title" />
<EditText android:id="@+id/title"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_weight="1"/>
</LinearLayout>
<Button android:id="@+id/confirm"
android:text="@string/confirm"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content" />
</LinearLayout>
Above we have one linear layout after another and that is for a very specific reason. To be able to present a neat and clean layout we must use the first linear layout to align everything vertically and fill the parent window. After that, the second linear layout will align the textbox and label horizontally. If the two linear layouts were not present the textbox would be the size of the current screen instead of the neat one line layout we have now. Other than that, the layout is pretty is basic and there should be no trouble here.
Next we are going to create a new
.java
file in our package
com.gregjacobs.enhancedquotes
called
QuoteEdit
and it will contain code to accept any edits we may do on our items. Below is the code and comments on the important stuff you may not know, although it should look pretty familiar because we have used almost all of these functions and methods in previous posts. Here is the code for
QuoteEdit.java
:
package com.gregjacobs.enhancedquotes;
import android.app.Activity;
import android.content.Intent;
import android.os.Bundle;
import android.view.View;
import android.widget.Button;
import android.widget.EditText;
public class QuoteEdit extends Activity {
private EditText mQuoteText;
private Long mRowId;
@Override
protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
setContentView(R.layout.edit);
mQuoteText = (EditText) findViewById(R.id.title);
Button confirmButton = (Button) findViewById(R.id.confirm);
mRowId = null;
Bundle extras = getIntent().getExtras();
if (extras != null) {
String title = extras.getString(QuotesDBAdapter.KEY_QUOTES);
mRowId = extras.getLong(QuotesDBAdapter.KEY_ROWID);
if (title != null) {
mQuoteText.setText(title);
}
}
All above is pretty standard until you get to the
Bundle extras = getIntent().getExtras();
part of the code. This code is pulling from the
QuotesMain.java
using an
Intent
. Now some beginners may be wondering what an Intent is. An Intent is a passive object to hold data that can pass between applications. In human-speak, its the glue that allows us to get information from the
QuotesMain.java
file to the
QuotesEdit.java
file efficiently and easily. Another new term would be a
Bundle
. A bundle allows use to map strings to objects such as the Intent we just talked about. So with the Bundle entitled extras, we are able to pull the data from the main
.java
file over to
QuotesEdit.java
file and vice versa.
confirmButton.setOnClickListener(new View.OnClickListener() {
public void onClick(View view) {
Bundle bundle = new Bundle();
bundle.putString(QuotesDBAdapter.KEY_QUOTES, mQuoteText.getText().toString());
if (mRowId != null) {
bundle.putLong(QuotesDBAdapter.KEY_ROWID, mRowId);
}
Intent mIntent = new Intent();
mIntent.putExtras(bundle);
setResult(RESULT_OK, mIntent);
finish();
}
});
}
}
The Bundle above will package the current text in the textbox with the original ID of the object and send it back over the
QuotesEdit.java
to the
QuotesMain.java
. We are now ready to move onto
QuotesMain.java
where we are going to pull everything we have done so far together. This code will implement the long press on items as well as utilizing the menu button on any phone to bring up an add function. Here is the code to utilize in
QuotesMain.java
:
package com.gregjacobs.enhancedquotes;
import android.app.ListActivity;
import android.view.View.OnClickListener;
import android.content.Context;
import android.content.Intent;
import android.database.Cursor;
import android.os.Bundle;
import android.view.ContextMenu;
import android.view.Menu;
import android.view.MenuItem;
import android.view.View;
import android.view.ContextMenu.ContextMenuInfo;
import android.widget.ListView;
import android.widget.Button;
import android.widget.SimpleCursorAdapter;
import android.widget.Toast;
import android.widget.AdapterView.AdapterContextMenuInfo;
Above we have a few new imports to be able to use the more advanced items in this project such as intents, menu’s and menuitem, listview and simplecursoradapters. These will all be explained as they come up.
public class QuotesMain extends ListActivity {
private static final int ACTIVITY_CREATE=0;
private static final int ACTIVITY_EDIT=1;
private static final int INSERT_ID = Menu.FIRST;
private static final int DELETE_ID = Menu.FIRST + 1;
private QuotesDBAdapter mDbHelper;
private Cursor mNotesCursor;
public Button button;
/** Called when the activity is first created. */
@Override
public void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
setContentView(R.layout.main);
mDbHelper = new QuotesDBAdapter(this);
mDbHelper.open();
fillData();
registerForContextMenu(getListView());
button = (Button)findViewById(R.id.genRan);
button.setOnClickListener(mAddListener);
}
We are making variables for creating, editing, inserting and deleting and making them static because they are not going to change. In the onCreate function we utilize
fillData()
which will be defined below. As well you will notice that we register the listview items in the context menu and set a listener for the button. A context menu is best described as kind of a pop-up menu and this will be utilized when we want to delete a item within the listview.
private OnClickListener mAddListener = new OnClickListener()
{
public void onClick(View v)
{
//long id1 = 0;
// do something when the button is clicked
try
{
String quote = "";
quote = mDbHelper.getRandomEntry();
Context context = getApplicationContext();
CharSequence text = quote;
int duration = Toast.LENGTH_LONG;
Toast toast = Toast.makeText(context, text, duration);
toast.show();
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
Context context = getApplicationContext();
CharSequence text = ex.toString();
int duration = Toast.LENGTH_LONG;
Toast toast = Toast.makeText(context, text, duration);
toast.show();
}
}
};
private void fillData() {
// Get all of the rows from the database and create the item list
mNotesCursor = mDbHelper.fetchAllQuotes();
startManagingCursor(mNotesCursor);
// Create an array to specify the fields we want to display in the list (only TITLE)
String[] from = new String[]{QuotesDBAdapter.KEY_QUOTES};
// and an array of the fields we want to bind those fields to (in this case just text1)
int[] to = new int[]{R.id.text1};
// Now create a simple cursor adapter and set it to display
SimpleCursorAdapter notes =
new SimpleCursorAdapter(this, R.layout.row, mNotesCursor, from, to);
setListAdapter(notes);
}
The button function above is exactly like the previous one that is used to generate a random quote from our list. The new method
fillData()
as mentioned above is going to be used to get all of the quotes and bind the ID and the actual quote together and add them to the listview using the
SimpleCursorAdapter
. The
SimpleCursorAdapter
is used to bind bind columns in a returned cursor to any text we place on the screen.
@Override
public boolean onCreateOptionsMenu(Menu menu) {
super.onCreateOptionsMenu(menu);
menu.add(0, INSERT_ID,0, R.string.menu_insert);
return true;
}
@Override
public boolean onMenuItemSelected(int featureId, MenuItem item) {
switch(item.getItemId()) {
case INSERT_ID:
createNote();
return true;
}
return super.onMenuItemSelected(featureId, item);
}
In the first function above called
onCreateOptionsMenu()
we are adding the ability to add an item to the database using the menu press option that will bring up dialog asking if we would like to do this. If this completes successfully then the statement will return true. The one below it checks to see if an item has been pressed in the menu. If it has it uses a switch statement to check the value that we defined above. If it matches then we create a note which is defined below.
@Override
public void onCreateContextMenu(ContextMenu menu, View v,
ContextMenuInfo menuInfo) {
super.onCreateContextMenu(menu, v, menuInfo);
menu.add(0, DELETE_ID, 0, R.string.menu_delete);
}
@Override
public boolean onContextItemSelected(MenuItem item) {
switch(item.getItemId()) {
case DELETE_ID:
AdapterContextMenuInfo info = (AdapterContextMenuInfo) item.getMenuInfo();
mDbHelper.deleteQuote(info.id);
fillData();
return true;
}
return super.onContextItemSelected(item);
}
private void createNote() {
Intent i = new Intent(this, QuoteEdit.class);
startActivityForResult(i, ACTIVITY_CREATE);
}
The function above is used to register the context menu and give the option to delete items using the menu.add function as seen above as well as here. If the context menu item Delete is pressed then the database helper will delete the quote based on the ID. The
createNote()
function uses an intent to pass the application over to the QuoteEdit file and load a new screen and when done a new intent will send the completed data back over here so we can add it to the listview.
@Override
protected void onListItemClick(ListView l, View v, int position, long id) {
super.onListItemClick(l, v, position, id);
Cursor c = mNotesCursor;
c.moveToPosition(position);
Intent i = new Intent(this, QuoteEdit.class);
i.putExtra(QuotesDBAdapter.KEY_ROWID, id);
i.putExtra(QuotesDBAdapter.KEY_QUOTES, c.getString(
c.getColumnIndexOrThrow(QuotesDBAdapter.KEY_QUOTES)));
startActivityForResult(i, ACTIVITY_EDIT);
}
If an item from the listview is pressed the function above is loaded to initialize an intent and put the information into the intent and pull it over to the QuoteEdit class to be edited. When completed the QuoteEdit class will send the completed data back over and we can continue to add, edit or delete more items.
@Override
protected void onActivityResult(int requestCode, int resultCode, Intent intent) {
super.onActivityResult(requestCode, resultCode, intent);
Bundle extras = intent.getExtras();
switch(requestCode) {
case ACTIVITY_CREATE:
String title = extras.getString(QuotesDBAdapter.KEY_QUOTES);
mDbHelper.createQuote(title);
fillData();
break;
case ACTIVITY_EDIT:
Long rowId = extras.getLong(QuotesDBAdapter.KEY_ROWID);
if (rowId != null) {
String editTitle = extras.getString(QuotesDBAdapter.KEY_QUOTES);
mDbHelper.updateQuote(rowId, editTitle);
}
fillData();
break;
}
}
}
The method above takes the result of an activity and uses the result to utilize a specific method. The result in this case would either be creating a new quote or editing an existing one. The basis of this switch statement is to utilize the database helper and either insert data or update data within the database.
We now have one more file to go over before we could run our application on the emulator. This would be the
AndroidManifest.XML
file and that will control what is registered and what runs, it is essentially the heart of the program and we need it to recognize that we have 2 parts to our application. Here is the code for the AndroidManifest:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<manifest xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android" package="com.gregjacobs.enhancedquotes">
<application android:icon="@drawable/icon">
<activity android:name=".QuotesMain" android:label="@string/app_name">
<intent-filter>
<action android:name="android.intent.action.MAIN" />
<category android:name="android.intent.category.LAUNCHER" />
</intent-filter>
</activity>
<activity android:name=".QuoteEdit" android:label="@string/app_name"></activity>
</application>
</manifest>
If your code doesnt look like this then you will have to do some modifications to your code to talor it to this. You will notice that we have added another
Activity
to the manifest file and are giving it the same name as the one above,
app_name
. This will denote that we have another activity that we would like to use and we register it here. Also, you will notice that the
uses-sdk android:minSdkVersion=”3″
has been taken out. This is because an application does not really need it but it is always good to have. This just uses it as a reference and will use the specified build target when building your application.
The application should build and you will be able to try out the more advanced features of Android programming. The possibilities are endless with the knowledge you learn but what if your database/database code is not working?
Thats what the
Dalvick Debug Monitor Server (DDMS)
is for. When the emulator is running we are able to switch over to the DDMS by going to the top right of your screen and pressing the
>>
and then clicking on
DDMS
. If you are new to Android Development this new screen will be very confusing for you. What we are going to take out of going to the DDMS for right now is the ability to add and take from our emulator items which may be of interest. For this particular tutorial we are going to grab a database from the running emulator.
Before we get started we will need to download some software I find very useful for SQLite developers. This being
SQLite Database Browser
(SDB). This software will allow you to open SQLite databases and explore the contents, even modifying them through SQL statements. Once the file is downloaded find the folder and click on the
.exe
to start it up. Leave this program up and we will get back to it later.
To be able to put them into the SDB we need to pull them off the emulator. To do this we have to delve into the running emulator and find the database we want. It is key to remember that databases are application specific so we will need to find the package name and the database will be under a Database Folder. When in DDMS goto the devices tab and click on our emulator. then in the middle of the program should be a tab called
File Explorer
. Once File Explorer has been clicked we will now see three folders (maybe more depending on what you do with the device) called
data
,
sdcard
and
system
. We will leave
system
and
sdcard
alone for right now as we are going to use the
data
folder so open it. Once open, navigate to another folder called data and open it too. We are now presented with the package names with everything installed on our emulator. Navigate to
com.gregjacobs.enhancedquotes
and open it. Once open the two folders that appear should be
databases
and
lib
. Open databases folder and take the file called
Random
. Now to be able to take this file we are going to click on it once then navigate to the top of the tab and press the button that looks like a
floppy disc with an arrow pointing to the left
. Once this icon is clicked a dialog box will appear asking where you want to save the selected file. Choose an easy to locate place and click save.
One the file has been taken from the emulator we are going to go back to SDB and click the big open button, find our file we saved and click open. Once the file is open we are able to see the structure of the database and navigate to browse the data. to do this we are going to click on the tab called
Browse Data
and in the dropdown that says table beside it, we are going to choose
tblRandomQuotes
. The data in the table will now appear and now you know where to find your data if you ever need to modify something an put it back onto the emulator. The SDB is also good for testing out SQL queries if you are unsure of what the data returned would be. This will be an invaluable tool if you do database applications in Android.
Here are the files from my project for comparison:
AndroidManifest.xml
|
edit.xml
|
main.xml
|
QuoteEdit.java
|
QuoteMain.java
|
QuotesDBAdapter.java
|
row.xml
|
strings.xml
Now that you have an advanced understanding of some of the GUI options available to you and Database code covered in more detail in this tutorial, you are ready to start making some applications that have a little more depth than just button clicks. With the understanding you have of Intents and Bundles, you can make your programs well rounded and divide your code and layouts to match what your looking to make. If anyone has an idea that they have implemented since following this tutorial feel free to send them to me us so we can check out what you have learned. The next tutorial will cover designing the statistics tracker and using
DroidDraw
to develop some of the UI. Until the next tutorial, Happy Hacking!
Articles Used For Reference:
Google Notepad Tutorial
–
NotepadV2
Continue on to Part 5:
DroidDraw & Information Tracker Complete | 40 | 38 | [
{
"comment_id": "164885",
"author": "Jonas",
"timestamp": "2010-08-02T18:09:00",
"content": "“If your code doesnt look like this then you will have to do some modifications to your to talor it to this. You will notice that we have added another to the manifest an are giving it the same name as the o... | 1,760,377,397.703723 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2010/08/02/hardware-hack-3d-software-still-needed/ | Hardware Hack 3D, Software Still Needed | Jakob Griffith | [
"home entertainment hacks"
] | [
"glasses",
"hardware",
"shutter",
"softare"
] | [youtube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_k7Vc10YsDk&feature=player_embedded%5D
If you’re on the fence about 3D TV and related technologies [Anton B.] might be able to
help you decide
. No, he’s not going to shove pamphlets in your face and explain why its the wave of the future. Rather, by showing the hack-ability (its a word) of 3D shutter glasses. A simple bridge of wire across specific contacts can ‘trick’ the glasses into only displaying only the left or right picture.
Wouldn’t that make it just a regular 2D TV again? Yes, that’s the
beauty of it
. Person A could be watching a completely separate movie
pr0n
than person B, but all on the same TV. Or two people could be playing a video game, without dividing the screen in half. The only problem is the current lack of software that can interlace movies/games, who’s up for writing some C++ this weekend? | 39 | 39 | [
{
"comment_id": "164806",
"author": "Stephen",
"timestamp": "2010-08-02T15:08:34",
"content": "This I would buy a TV for, multiplayer games without the splitt screen! Amazing!",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "164807",
"author": "@allansommer"... | 1,760,377,397.8807 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2010/08/02/jailbreak-your-apple-products/ | Jailbreak Your Apple Products | Jakob Griffith | [
"Mac Hacks",
"News"
] | [
"apple",
"ios4",
"ipad",
"iphone",
"jailbreak"
] | It’s finally here
, after being declared completely
legal to jailbreak
your iPhone,
JailbreakMe 2.0
is released.
Now, any and all iDevices can be jailbroken by simply visiting the URL above; however, before you start your devious adventure in the land of apps not approved by big brother Apple, there are a few issues.
The webpage is being slammed at the moment so you’ll have to wait. There is a chance the
jailbreak will not work
, and you could brick your phone. MMS and Facetime are having complications after jailbreaking. And finally, carrier unlock still needs to be done with ultrasn0w.
But beyond those small stepping stones, jailbreaking is just a touch away. | 31 | 31 | [
{
"comment_id": "164789",
"author": "AndrewNeo",
"timestamp": "2010-08-02T14:10:44",
"content": "Worked great on my iPod Touch 3G last night. It appears to be more a PDF exploit than Safari, which is rather interesting.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment... | 1,760,377,397.768968 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2010/08/02/doorbell-combo-lock-can-open-your-garage-door/ | Doorbell Combo Lock Can Open Your Garage Door | Mike Szczys | [
"home hacks"
] | [
"alan parekh",
"attiny13 atmega168",
"combination",
"doorbell",
"garage door",
"relay"
] | Sometimes I get enough away from writing about other people’s accomplishments long enough to actually do my own hacks. Most recently I developed
a combination lock that opens the garage door
. The idea isn’t original, it is based on [Alan Parekh’s]
button code
project, but I did develop my own hardware and software. A four digit code is entered by pressing the button a number of times for the first digit, and waiting for a flash of an LED inside before moving on to the next digit. If the correct code is entered the door opens.
My version centers around an ATtiny13. I originally downloaded [Alan’s] code in hopes that I could port the PIC firmware over pretty easily. Unfortunately it was written in BASIC so I just took what I knew about the interface and wrote my own program. I developed on an ATmega168 so that I would have no trouble running out of programming space, and was able to optimize my code down to 964 bytes to fit on the tiny13.
The hardware is quite simple. I purchased a lighted doorbell from Home Depot and swapped out the light bulb for an LED. I choose this because the doorbell mounts in a 5/8″ hole in the trim of the garage door and is easily overlooked. I’m quite happy with the results, and if you want to play around with the idea, you can easily build the circuit on a breadboard and use another LED for the load rather than including a relay. Hit the link at the top of this post for the schematic, code, and build images. | 24 | 20 | [
{
"comment_id": "164770",
"author": "Winston",
"timestamp": "2010-08-02T13:17:01",
"content": "Nice & unobtrusive looking, but how long does it actually take you to enter the code to open the door, compared to a traditional key-code system?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
... | 1,760,377,397.998287 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2010/08/01/update-custom-cellphone-induction-charging/ | Update: Custom Cellphone Induction Charging | Mike Szczys | [
"Cellphone Hacks"
] | [
"bondo",
"case",
"charger",
"hd2",
"htc",
"inductive"
] | This is a
custom back plate with induction charging circuitry
that [Derek Hughes] build for his HTC HD2 cellphone. When we checked in with him last week he showed us
how to add an inductive charger without voiding the warranty
but it wasn’t very pretty because the stock back plate blocked the inductive field and couldn’t be used. The solution he came up with will work with any device if you want to put some time into the build.
He took two different aftermarket cases; one fits his cellphone and the other is a BlackBerry case meant for housing a credit card. After cutting a hole in the back of the cellphone case he epoxied the credit card holder in place, smoothed the seam with Bondo, and repainted. Not only does the charger fit in the credit card case, but there’s still room for a credit card. [Derek] also measured the magnetic fields around the circuitry and found they will not damage the magnetic strip on that
American Express Black
you’ve been keeping on you. In the video after the break he mentions the last step in finishing this case will be to locate a 90-degree USB plug as the current connector is a bit of an eyesore.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DgNOqJBSKmQ] | 12 | 12 | [
{
"comment_id": "164595",
"author": "D_",
"timestamp": "2010-08-01T21:09:13",
"content": "Well Derek has an ongoing process to perfect his hack. In event he does or doesn’t find a 90 degree connector he will have to again to make another case, or mod this one. With finding a connector it will still ... | 1,760,377,398.115338 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2010/08/01/hackaday-links-august-1-2010/ | Hackaday Links: August 1, 2010 | Mike Szczys | [
"Hackaday links"
] | [
"mame",
"pcb",
"wedding cake"
] | PCB Group Orders
[Phil] wrote in to let us know about the
DorkbotPDX group orders
. The site makes group PCB orders until a cutoff date or the panel is full. You get three copies of your design with no setup fee for just $5/square inch including domestic postage. Not a bad price. We aren’t affiliated with them, but we’re always looking for board production options for hobbyists.
BatchPCB
is another popular one, and if you need
help getting your design ready
we’ve got your covered.
Aspire One MAME cabinet
[Tim]
built a MAME cabinet
using foam board and some USB peripherals. Inside you’ll find an Acer Aspire One netbook. This build is quick, cheap, and if you get tired of it you won’t feel you’re stuck with it in the way
owners of other MAME cabinet builds
might.
Embedded Cake
If you are an embedded programmer who happens to be marrying another embedded programmer take note.
This wedding cake
is perfect for you; decorated with character LCD screens, solderless breadboards, and development boards along with the wires that connect them all together. [Francirius], a read from Chile, says this cake was the handy work of [Paulina Verdejo]. | 25 | 25 | [
{
"comment_id": "164555",
"author": "Tachikoma",
"timestamp": "2010-08-01T18:12:08",
"content": "The resistors on the cake is cute :P",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "164557",
"author": "ChalkBored",
"timestamp": "2010-08-01T18:14:41",
... | 1,760,377,398.177719 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2010/08/05/pcb-trace-antenna/ | PCB Trace Antenna | Jakob Griffith | [
"Wireless Hacks"
] | [
"2.4ghz",
"antenna",
"cantenna",
"design",
"pcb",
"trace"
] | If you’re working on a device that includes RF wireless, [Colin’s]
Guide to PCB Trace Antenna Design
might clear some headaches when
sending off for PCBs
. While it is directed at devices transmitting at 2.4GHz, the techniques and recommended equipment (read:
espresso
smith charts and network analyzers) should work for almost any frequency. While trace antennas aren’t as easy to implement as a measured wire, the space benefits make up for the difficulty. Unless you don’t mind how larger your project is, did someone say
cantenna
? | 19 | 18 | [
{
"comment_id": "165767",
"author": "h3llphyre",
"timestamp": "2010-08-05T13:10:00",
"content": "I don’t consider “follow the datasheet’s layout” and “acquire and use a $50,000 piece of equipment” to be Hackaday worthy.It would have been more interesting for the author to point out how “close enough... | 1,760,377,398.068466 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2010/08/04/wine-cask-sensor-suite/ | Wine Cask Sensor Suite | Mike Szczys | [
"chemistry hacks"
] | [
"alcohol",
"arduino",
"co2",
"pH",
"sensor",
"suite",
"temperature",
"vinification",
"winemaking"
] | As part of his Master’s dissertation [Salvador Faria] built
a sensor suite for wine monitoring
. He needed to develop a method of tracking data inside the wine cask during the vinification process. What he came up with eclipses the
wine cellar temperature monitors
we’ve seen before.
He picked up pH, temperature, carbon dioxide, alcohol, and relative humidity sensors from familiar vendors like Seeed, Parallax, and SparkFun. His original idea was to develop a floating probe that housed the entire package but he had quite a bit of trouble getting everything inside
and
maintaining buoyancy. The solution was a two-part probe; the stationary portion seen mounted on top of the cask houses the microcontroller, RF 433 MHz transmitter, and the gas sensors. Tethered to that is a floating probe that measures pH and temperature. Data is sent over radio frequency to an HTTP POST server every minute. | 15 | 15 | [
{
"comment_id": "165594",
"author": "Brad Hein",
"timestamp": "2010-08-04T20:21:49",
"content": "In 2010 Skynet took over. Then they got drunk on wine and the humans took control back.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "165625",
"author": "Reap... | 1,760,377,398.3736 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2010/08/04/making-home-automation-modules-talk-to-each-other/ | Making Home Automation Modules Talk To Each Other | Mike Szczys | [
"home hacks"
] | [
"arduino",
"audio",
"home automation",
"rnet",
"russound",
"sonos"
] | [Danny] has been working on
an RNET to Sonos bridge
. These are devices from two different manufacturers used to facility whole-house audio systems. Usually there’s a main controller with a large color screen and then several satellite controllers like the one above which have some of the features but at a lower cost. Normally you’re limited to using hardware from one line of devices in order to get them to talk to each other but [Danny’s] saying ‘no way’ to that restriction.
His latest post
has some of the details on how he pulls this off. He used an RS232 serial connection with an Arduino to sniff out the data stream from the RNET base unit. Once he figured out the protocol he used the Arduino to parse all incoming commands, format them for the Sonos controller, and send it over the Ethernet cable to that device. He’s got everything tied together and working. Take a look at the proof in the clip after the break.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hzj6kTAB5K4] | 12 | 12 | [
{
"comment_id": "165564",
"author": "Professor P",
"timestamp": "2010-08-04T18:53:58",
"content": "Check out xAP for a simple, universal home automation protocol that’s ideally suited to this kind of hack –http://www.xapautomation.org",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
... | 1,760,377,398.608508 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2010/08/04/network-enabled-window-air-conditioner/ | Network Enabled Window Air Conditioner | Mike Szczys | [
"home hacks"
] | [
"air conditioner",
"cat-5",
"cron",
"ethernet",
"network",
"php",
"window"
] | It’s no secret that the central US is feels like a very humid oven right now. [Erik’s]
window AC hack
might help you out if you’re coping with triple-digit temperatures. He added network connectivity to the unit above but the picture is a bit deceiving. The blue CAT-5 cable that enters the bottom isn’t connecting directly to the network, but extends the up and down button connections for the unit to an external relay board. From there he uses an SNMP board to connect it to the network and uses PHP commands to reset the temperature. The unit has a working range of 66-88 degrees Fahrenheit so he cycles enough button press to reach the maximum or minimum level, then sets the desired temperature (avoiding the need to know what temperature the unit is currently set at).
If you’ve got an AC unit with a remote control you could always
use an IR device to patch into the system
for similar functionality. | 20 | 20 | [
{
"comment_id": "165517",
"author": "biozz",
"timestamp": "2010-08-04T17:29:15",
"content": "nice concept … a GUI and a droid app would be a nice step forward and would be something i would consider doing to my central air but i think a transistor would be far better than a relay board (and quieter)... | 1,760,377,398.662268 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2010/08/04/racing-game-uses-a-physical-race-track-and-vehicle/ | Racing Game Uses A Physical Race Track And Vehicle | Mike Szczys | [
"home entertainment hacks"
] | [
"cad",
"cardboard",
"racing",
"rc",
"tron",
"video game"
] | Racer is a racing video game
with a very real element. The player sits in an arcade-style console; wheel, pedals, shifter, and television display. But in what must be an homage to Tron the game taking place is very real. You can see the track above, designed in CAD and cut from cardboard, which is navigated by that little vehicle the gentleman holds in his hand. It’s wireless and broadcasts video back to the control console. What we have here is
a homemade drone
but for now it’s confined to the gaming grid. Don’t miss the demos after the break.
[vimeo=http://vimeo.com/9056286]
There’s a
followup demo to the clip above
but we were unable to embed it.
[Thanks Hideki] | 38 | 38 | [
{
"comment_id": "165497",
"author": "t&p",
"timestamp": "2010-08-04T16:09:10",
"content": "That is bad ass! The only thing I can see to be a prob is the cam’s wireless signal seems to go out in a crash and the top of the arcade unit is not fastened correctly where it rotates on something.",
"pa... | 1,760,377,398.448507 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2010/08/04/all-metal-hot-end-for-makerbot/ | All Metal Hot End For Makerbot | Jakob Griffith | [
"cnc hacks"
] | [
"aluminum",
"extruder",
"hot end",
"melt",
"ptfe"
] | Imagine
if you will for a moment, you’re printing along on your
Makerbot clone
and all of a sudden your PTFE hot end melts, what are you going to do now? One solution is to
mill your own
all metal end from a bolt with some careful drilling. Or you could follow [Peter Jansen] who has made his own all metal hot end using the existing extruder. All that’s required is some aluminum sheet and cutting down the nozzle and hat (and fans to help, but technicalities), and you’re in business with no more melted PTFE hot end. | 19 | 19 | [
{
"comment_id": "165501",
"author": "osgeld",
"timestamp": "2010-08-04T16:23:44",
"content": "“Imagine if you will for a moment, you’re printing along on your Makerbot clone and all of a sudden your PTFE hot end melts”I dont have a maker bot, never seen one in real life and have not clue what a PTFE... | 1,760,377,398.781054 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2010/08/03/the-quest-for-a-bicycle-power-system/ | The Quest For A Bicycle Power System | Mike Szczys | [
"Transportation Hacks"
] | [
"battery",
"bicycle",
"charger",
"cycling",
"dynamo"
] | [Garote] has been extremely busy. Busy building an electrical system into his bicycle, and even busier writing
a monumental post about it
. He covers an impressive range of topics, starting with the goal of adding a generator, battery, charging system, lights, and accessories to the bike. From there he clicks off one thing at a time, researching and ordering a wheel with a Dynamo hub for the generator, assembling and testing the cells of his battery, choosing the controller board for the charging system, and designing the accessory circuits like the iPhone charger above. If he adds too much more to the two-wheeled rig
he’s going to have to plan a big road trip with it
.
[Thanks Xuxo] | 22 | 22 | [
{
"comment_id": "165281",
"author": "Josxbc",
"timestamp": "2010-08-03T20:25:15",
"content": "Nice!!..",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "165286",
"author": "afasgfa",
"timestamp": "2010-08-03T20:42:34",
"content": "20amps from a lithiu... | 1,760,377,398.723699 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2010/07/27/air-freshener-hacking/ | Air Freshener Hacking | Mike Szczys | [
"home hacks"
] | [
"arduino",
"bot",
"glade",
"irc",
"motion sensing",
"relay",
"sense and spray"
] | In an effort to improve his marital standing [Tech B]
hacked an air freshener
to make it Internet controllable. The main component here is a Glade Sense and Spray. It cost him $7 and is meant to spray out some sweet smells when it senses motion in the room. The unit also has a manual spray button which he patched into with the help of a relay. From there some Arduino code and an IRC bot take over, letting him unleash freshness from anywhere he has IRC access.
When reading about this we were also thinking: “motion sensing circuitry available at local stores for just $7?”. We may have to conduct an investigation into the alternative usefulness of that package.
If you have another brand of automatic freshener around it should be
just as easy to hack
as this one was. | 35 | 33 | [
{
"comment_id": "162650",
"author": "Aaron",
"timestamp": "2010-07-27T18:51:39",
"content": "“Improve his marital standing”? What, does he fart a lot?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "162658",
"author": "t&p",
"timestamp": "2010-07-27T19:... | 1,760,377,398.851984 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2010/07/27/6809-computing/ | 6809 Computing | Mike Szczys | [
"classic hacks",
"computer hacks"
] | [
"6809. 8-bit",
"motorola",
"serial",
"terminalscope"
] | [Matthew Arnoff]
built an 8-bit computer
around the
Motorola 6809
processor. He chose this processor because it seems there are a lot of
Z80 builds
out there and he wanted to try something different.
This actually packs quite a punch. He’s clocking the machine at 2 MHz with 512 KB of SRAM memory. Compact Flash that is FAT formatted provides mass storage. He’s using a serial connection for a user interface. After the break you can see his oscilloscope is used as the monitor. This was easy to accomplish by connecting the serial out to
Terminalscope
, one of his previous projects.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Dd1y3rbPck]
[Thanks Marc] | 44 | 43 | [
{
"comment_id": "162581",
"author": "Ben Ryves",
"timestamp": "2010-07-27T14:42:36",
"content": "Cracking work there. :-) Especially nice to see something that’s a bit different to the usual Z80/6502 fare!",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "162587"... | 1,760,377,399.059398 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2010/07/27/c02-laser-in-your-living-room/ | C02 Laser In Your Living Room | Caleb Kraft | [
"Laser Hacks"
] | [
"c02",
"laser"
] | [Magx1] has filled his living room with laser-y goodness. You can get tons of build pictures and information from his
Flickr set
. There are many cool aspects of this build, but one that stands out is how he gets his C02. He simply exhales into a balloon. Check out the video after the break to see him melting glass with his laser.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Mf33rZUX0s]
[via
MakeZine
] | 45 | 44 | [
{
"comment_id": "162571",
"author": "The Geek",
"timestamp": "2010-07-27T13:59:20",
"content": "Bad ass",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "162576",
"author": "Henrik Pedersen",
"timestamp": "2010-07-27T14:16:33",
"content": "FREAKING… A... | 1,760,377,398.930705 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2010/07/26/web-enabled-led-pegboard/ | Web-enabled LED Pegboard | Mike Szczys | [
"LED Hacks"
] | [
"frame",
"led matrix",
"marquee",
"pegboard",
"web"
] | [Norm Santos]
whipped up an LED light board
that you can draw on through their web interface. We tried it out but unfortunately the live feed is currently offline. That doesn’t diminish our appreciation for the time-lapse build video after the break. Indeed it was a mountain of hot glueing and a couple of days of soldering. Our only beef is that for every LED on the board there are three empty peg holes. To us this is just begging to be augmented with blue, green, and white LEDs for
a more spectacular result
. What they have now encompases 350 LEDs managed by five microcontrollers, which took about two days to solder (for five people) and to hammer out some code.
[vimeo=http://vimeo.com/13599380] | 14 | 14 | [
{
"comment_id": "162353",
"author": "MrCung",
"timestamp": "2010-07-26T21:49:23",
"content": "Haha the banana suit is awesome :p",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "162354",
"author": "Anon",
"timestamp": "2010-07-26T21:55:13",
"content"... | 1,760,377,398.982221 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2010/07/26/more-automated-wire-cutting/ | More Automated Wire Cutting | Mike Szczys | [
"Robots Hacks"
] | [
"automated",
"wire",
"wire cutter"
] | [MC] realized he had forgotten about an order for 2000 cut wires that was now due in a few days. Rather than dropping everything to complete the task, he whipped up this
machine to cut the wires for him
. A PIC 16F628 board drives a couple of battery-powered drill motors. One of them powers two lawnmower wheels for the feed, and the other turns a pin that squeezes the wire cutters. It’s not as advanced as
the cutter/stripper from last year
, but it gets the job done.
After the break you can see it does what is intended. The final product took about $80 and 12 hours of his time to build. [MC’s] planned improvements include more accurate wire measurement, plus an LCD and button based user interface.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i-6niamGsu4] | 33 | 33 | [
{
"comment_id": "162301",
"author": "makapuf",
"timestamp": "2010-07-26T19:18:04",
"content": "12 hours is 21.6 seconds / wire. Not bad if you count in the fun of building it vs tediousness of cutting the wires directly ; Not exactly a time saver but at least not a waste of time.",
"parent_id": ... | 1,760,377,399.122464 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2010/07/26/hope-badge-proximity-sensor/ | HOPE Badge Proximity Sensor | Mike Szczys | [
"cons"
] | [
"badge",
"geiger counter",
"hope",
"msp430",
"proximity"
] | The HOPE conference was last weekend and [Nathan] spent some time with fellow members of Makers Local 256 developing
this badge proximity sensor
. They took one of the HOPE badges, which
have a radio on board for the tracking network
, and wrote code for its MSP430 to detect other badges nearby. It uses a Geiger counter they brought with them as an enclosure, re-purposing the analog gauge to reflect the level of active radio signals in the area. You’ll find their demo clip embedded after the break.
If you managed to get your hands on one of these badges, don’t be shy about sharing your hacks.
We want to see them
.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7quhFYJxMok&feature=player_embedded] | 14 | 14 | [
{
"comment_id": "162288",
"author": "allon",
"timestamp": "2010-07-26T18:36:44",
"content": "It’s not a geiger counter; it’s an ion chamber survey meter; the sensor is mounted inside (note the lack of tube or window).http://www.civildefensemuseum.com/cdmuseum2/radkits/cdv715.html",
"parent_id": ... | 1,760,377,399.243882 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2010/07/26/ds1307-breakout-board/ | DS1307 Breakout Board | Mike Szczys | [
"Tool Hacks"
] | [
"adafruit",
"breakout",
"chronodot",
"ds1307",
"rtc"
] | Adafruit’s got a handy
breakout board for the DS1307 RTC
available. This chip isn’t nearly as accurate as the DS3231 used in
the Chronodot
but it’s quite a bit cheaper. The breakout makes this easy to breadboard or plug into an Arduino and has everything you need; clock crystal, a backup battery, filtering capacitor, and pull-up resistors. Our favorite part is that Adafruit designs are open source so you can etch the board yourself if you
checkout the files from their git repository
. This will make a great addition to our
prototyping hardware collection
.
Incidentally, we were surprised to see the choice of 2.2k resistors for the I2C bus pull-ups. We were under the impression that 4.7k was a standard value here. We’d love to hear your thoughts on this in the comments.
[via
Dangerous Prototypes
] | 28 | 28 | [
{
"comment_id": "162232",
"author": "biozz",
"timestamp": "2010-07-26T16:05:01",
"content": "i use the 1hz crystal oscillator modified form an analog clock you covered earlier for basic operations and it saves pins",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id":... | 1,760,377,399.318807 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2010/07/28/wifi-on-a-sprint-pixi/ | WiFi On A Sprint Pixi | Mike Szczys | [
"Cellphone Hacks",
"Palm Pre Hacks"
] | [
"palm",
"pre",
"sprint",
"verizon",
"wifi"
] | [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kpFYoT2lYU0]
The Sprint version of the Palm Pixi doesn’t have a WiFi option but the Verizon version (called the Palm Pixi Plus) does. The hardware is almost the same and [Gitit20] figured out
how to do some hardware swapping to add WiFi
. The radio board inside the phone is fairly easy to remove. Close inspection of the Sprint radio board shows some solder pads where a WiFi chip would go. The Verizon version has this chip, and moving that radio board into the Sprint phone will enable WiFi. This is strictly a hardware hack as the device identification (IMEA) is paired with the motherboard and not the radio board.
Now we want to see someone source that WiFi chip, solder onto the board, and enable it within the OS so that we don’t need a donor phone to make this work.
[Thanks Juan] | 21 | 21 | [
{
"comment_id": "163077",
"author": "mike",
"timestamp": "2010-07-28T17:24:20",
"content": "lol version does suck enough to go through all that trouble to get wifi on the sprint version",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "163081",
"author": "Von... | 1,760,377,399.523037 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2010/07/28/emulating-an-amiga-floppy-drive/ | Emulating An Amiga Floppy Drive | Mike Szczys | [
"computer hacks"
] | [
"amiga",
"drive",
"emulator",
"floppy",
"sd",
"ufe"
] | [Retromaster’s]
Ultimate Floppy Emulator
is a wicked display of hardware mastery. It is the culmination of several design stages aimed at replacing an Amiga floppy drive with a modern storage solution. You may be thinking that using an SD card in place of a floppy isn’t all that interesting but this hack does much more. The board, controlled by a PIC32, patches into the Amiga keyboard and monitor. This allows you to bring up an overlay menu for controlling the emulator in order to configure which virtual floppy disk is currently ‘in the drive’. He’s even gone so far as to add a piezo speaker to mimic the sounds the original drive head would make while reading a disk.
[Thanks Gokhan] | 32 | 32 | [
{
"comment_id": "163033",
"author": "wawa",
"timestamp": "2010-07-28T15:56:30",
"content": "OMG i so want this right now, he says hes not got plans to release the source code and pcb layouts yet though :( And he hasnt sorted out someone to make them to sell them, but i soo badly want one to play wit... | 1,760,377,399.849431 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2010/07/28/inductive-cellphone-charging-without-voiding-warranty/ | Inductive Cellphone Charging Without Voiding Warranty | Mike Szczys | [
"Cellphone Hacks"
] | [
"charging",
"hd2",
"htc",
"inductance",
"inductive",
"palm",
"touchstone"
] | [Derek Hughes] wanted to use
inductive charging on his cellphone
without voiding the warranty. He picked up a Pixi charging backplate meant for a Palm Pre and scavenged the coil and regulator circuitry from it. To make the electrical connection with his HTC HD2 he removed the mini-USB plug from a charging cable and connected it with 30 gauge wire. The whole package will fit beneath the back plate for use with a Touchstone charger (
as we’ve seen with the HTC Evo
) but there was one problem. The metal backplate from the HD2 interferes with the inductive charging. For now he’s using tape to hold everything together while searching for a plastic case replacement.
He walks you through the hack in the video after the break. We’re usually not worried about voiding warranties, but a phone like this takes a lot of abuse and having warranty protection or even a service agreement isn’t a bad idea. | 26 | 25 | [
{
"comment_id": "163004",
"author": "andrew",
"timestamp": "2010-07-28T14:29:37",
"content": "Why would a phone like that take a lot of abuse?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "163009",
"author": "Travis Deyle",
"timestamp": "2010-07-28T14... | 1,760,377,399.583167 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2010/07/28/extra-extra-now-legal-to-jailbreak-iphone/ | Extra Extra: Now Legal To Jailbreak IPhone | Jakob Griffith | [
"News"
] | [
"cellphone",
"circumvention",
"company",
"copyright",
"dvd",
"exemptions",
"fine",
"illegal",
"iphone",
"jailbreak",
"legal",
"news",
"program",
"software",
"video",
"warranty"
] | For those living under a rock, the latest ‘greatest’ news to hit hacking front page is the the Copyright Office granting
Six Exemptions Regarding the Circumvention of Access-Control Technologies
. Of the six the one of the two regarding iPhones is as follows,
“(2) Computer programs that enable wireless telephone handsets to execute software applications, where circumvention is accomplished for the sole purpose of enabling interoperability of such applications, when they have been lawfully obtained, with computer programs on the telephone handset.”
Which (along with section 3) really just means that you can unlock and crack cellphones and companies can no longer fine you $2,500. Not that many ever
have
but the threat was there. Apple however, can and still will void your warranty if you jailbreak.
The 4 other areas not involving phones are the ability to circumvent DVDs for portions of video, video games in order to better the security of said game, computer programs that require dongles but dongles are no longer available, and literary works that prevent read-aloud or rendering to a specialized format.
One tidbit I keep hearing about in these exemptions is the ability to now break DRM on
music
, as much as I wish this were true, I can’t seem to find any sources on it, sorry pirates.
Regardless, now that the world is one step closer to an open framework, whats changed? For me, I’ve been jailbroken for years so sadly nothing. If you agree with the ruling, disagree, or just want to tell about your now legal jailbreaking joys, please leave a comment.
Additional Sources:
FOXNews
and
CNNMoney
thanks to [Voyagerfan99], [Ryan Knight], and [Steve S.] respectively.
[Image credit:
Fr3d.org
] | 33 | 33 | [
{
"comment_id": "162990",
"author": "Laminar",
"timestamp": "2010-07-28T13:33:51",
"content": "In b4 iPhone sucks.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "162999",
"author": "vash sin",
"timestamp": "2010-07-28T14:18:45",
"content": "certain... | 1,760,377,399.65567 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2010/07/27/store-update-bags-pads-and-possibly-badges/ | Store Update: Bags, Pads, And Possibly Badges. | Caleb Kraft | [
"News"
] | [
"shirts",
"stickers",
"store"
] | Some new products
have worked their way into our hands and are just waiting for some awesome Hack a Day logos to be put on them. We’ve added a couple bags, some huge mouse pads as well as normal ones, and we’re considering adding the
Hack A Day badge
. You’ve seen the badges before,
when we took them to CES
. [Devlin] estimates that the cost would be $25 each before shipping. We would like to get some feedback before he starts pumping these things out. How many of you want one? | 43 | 35 | [
{
"comment_id": "162717",
"author": "Yamell",
"timestamp": "2010-07-27T21:47:09",
"content": "I like, is a really cool design, I do want one",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "162719",
"author": "echo",
"timestamp": "2010-07-27T21:49:23",
... | 1,760,377,399.925851 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2010/07/27/200-mile-rf-transmitter-and-high-altitude-balloon/ | 200 Mile RF Transmitter (and High Altitude Balloon) | Jakob Griffith | [
"Arduino Hacks",
"Wireless Hacks"
] | [
"74hc240",
"attiny44a",
"octal buffer",
"wireless"
] | If there is one thing we like, it’s a fellow hacker so enthusiastic about his or her work that they write the article practically for us by including as much detail and information as possible.
In this two part hack, [Scott]
wrote in
to let us know not only about a high school built
high altitude balloon
, but also his $5 long range RF transmitter. The former is simply GPS and video data logged over the flight, but [Scott’s] specialty comes in the latter. A 74HC240 octal buffer is using to amplify the signal (Morse code) from an ATTiny44a with a 29MHz oscillator, producing a
usable signal
as far away as 200 miles.
It is low bandwidth, but if you’re looking for a simple transmitter in your project and need something with more power (and a
smaller package
), this might be the ticket. | 48 | 44 | [
{
"comment_id": "162700",
"author": "yeahok",
"timestamp": "2010-07-27T21:03:37",
"content": "i like the direct labeling of the leds.pretty funny.talk about a hack.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "162705",
"author": "Addictronics",
"time... | 1,760,377,400.127984 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2010/07/27/making-nixie-tubes-at-home/ | Making Nixie Tubes At Home | Mike Szczys | [
"chemistry hacks",
"classic hacks"
] | [
"home",
"manufacture",
"nixie",
"tube"
] | [Aleksander Zawada] makes vacuum tubes in his home. One of the most challenging builds he has taken on is to produce a working Nixie tube. He
describes the process in a PDF
(Internet Archive, updated 2024), covering his success and failure. It seems the hardest part is to get the tube filled with the proper gas, at the proper pressure, and firmly seal it. In the end he managed to make a tube with three digits (0, 1, and 2) that worked for about 700 hours before burning out.
[Aleksander] joins [Jeri Ellsworth] on the short list of hackers who can pull off extreme
industrial manufacturing at home
. Kudos.
[Thanks Duncan] | 27 | 26 | [
{
"comment_id": "162683",
"author": "kenneth",
"timestamp": "2010-07-27T20:05:38",
"content": "thank’s Hack a Day this is great rescearch and good to see posted here , keep up the good work ,good article and inspiration to analogue tubes for valve amplifiers for example guitars , thumbs up and a gre... | 1,760,377,400.049004 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2010/07/30/diy-picture-frame-better-than-store-bought/ | DIY Picture Frame Better Than Store Bought | Mike Szczys | [
"home hacks"
] | [
"capacitor",
"computer",
"dos",
"lirc",
"ms-dos",
"picture frame",
"single board"
] | [Daniel’s]
homemade digital picture frame
looks great, it’s well-built, and it has a nice set of features. It’s not
made from a broken laptop
and he didn’t
build it around a microcontroller
. Instead, he saved a 19″ LCD monitor with a burnt out back light caused by the
extremely common blown capacitor problem
. Twenty dollars on eBay landed him a small industrial single board computer to drive the system.
The software end of things is a curious conglomeration but considering the hardware constraints [Daniel] made some great choices. He’s using MS-DOS along with LxPic for slide shows and Mplayer for video. The rest of the software gets him up on the home network and enables IR remote control via LIRC. All o this makes for a beautiful product (video after the break includes some Doom footage) and the package is pulling just 40W when in use. | 22 | 22 | [
{
"comment_id": "163846",
"author": "MrX",
"timestamp": "2010-07-30T17:20:49",
"content": "MS-DOS? Seriously?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "163851",
"author": "Brennan",
"timestamp": "2010-07-30T17:30:15",
"content": "OK, good for ... | 1,760,377,399.986165 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2010/07/30/tethering-the-samsung-vibrant-without-rooting/ | Tethering The Samsung Vibrant Without Rooting | Mike Szczys | [
"Cellphone Hacks"
] | [
"kies",
"samsung",
"t-mobile",
"Tether",
"usb",
"vibrant"
] | If you’ve got a Samsung Vibrant and want to take advantage of that unlimted 3G account you can
tether without rooting the phone
. This method uses a USB cable to provide internet access to Windows XP and Windows 7 computers. Samsung’s own Kies software handles the tethering, as long as you have the magic number to get connected on T-Mobile USA networks; ‘epc.tmobile.com’ for the APN name and ‘*99#’ as the phone number. [Zedomax] made the video after the break which takes you through the tethering ritual.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8jIJRu9gXvU]
[Photo credit:
Tnkgrl
] | 12 | 12 | [
{
"comment_id": "163835",
"author": "sixx",
"timestamp": "2010-07-30T16:31:09",
"content": "doesnt it work over wifi like it does with the galaxy?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "163956",
"author": "Eric",
"timestamp": "2010-07-30T21:51:... | 1,760,377,400.176852 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2010/07/30/2010-ninja-party-badge/ | 2010 Ninja Party Badge | Mike Szczys | [
"cons"
] | [
"badge",
"defcon",
"network",
"ninja",
"party"
] | Wired took a look at
this year’s Ninja Party badges
. We were giddy about all the goodies involved in
last year’s must-have badge
that served as an invitation to the party. It was tailor-made for hacking, including an on-board disassembler.
This year’s details
are still a bit sparse but the offering is more along the lines of a market-ready product. The badges come in hand held gaming format, with a d-pad and two buttons. They can connect wirelessly with each other and with hidden base stations, allowing participants to fight in the digital realm for LED-indicated achievements. The teaser is tantalizing and we can’t wait to hear details about the real/digital gaming adventure soon to unfold. | 19 | 19 | [
{
"comment_id": "163800",
"author": "techrat",
"timestamp": "2010-07-30T14:02:07",
"content": "These kids have too much money and free time. But then again, they’ll be (assuming they aren’t already) working for chip designers in Silicon Valley… It’s obvious their hardware skills are top-notch.",
... | 1,760,377,400.231874 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2010/07/29/super-simple-gaming-controller-for-android-or-iphone/ | Super Simple Gaming Controller For Android Or IPhone | Mike Szczys | [
"Cellphone Hacks",
"home entertainment hacks",
"iphone hacks",
"Nintendo Hacks"
] | [
"android",
"emulator",
"iphone",
"remote",
"wheel",
"wii"
] | If you’ve got an iPhone or Android device that you use with a Wii remote when gaming, this quick hack will give you the third hand you need to manage all of that hardware. [Syanni85]
mounted his Android phone to a Wii wheel
for just a few dollars in parts. He ran across the wheel itself at the dollar store, and the phone is held in place using a universal mounting bracket. A small square pad sticks onto the back of any device and mates with a base. He cut off the unnecessary parts of the base and glued it to the back of the wheel.
If you haven’t tried using a Wii remote with your phone yet, find out how to
do it with iPhone
or
with Android
. | 19 | 19 | [
{
"comment_id": "163414",
"author": "pod",
"timestamp": "2010-07-29T16:13:13",
"content": "I have to admit this is a pretty smart idea",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "163415",
"author": "biozz",
"timestamp": "2010-07-29T16:16:05",
"c... | 1,760,377,400.285111 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2010/07/29/graphic-calculator-as-a-spectrum-analyzer/ | Graphic Calculator As A Spectrum Analyzer | Mike Szczys | [
"Wireless Hacks"
] | [
"calculator",
"graphing",
"i2c",
"port expander",
"texas instruments",
"ti",
"wifi"
] | [Michael Vincent] turned his
TI-84 Plus into a spectrum analyzer
. By running some assembly code on the device the link port can be used as an I2C bus (something we’ll have to keep in mind). After being inspired by the
cell phone spectrum analyzer
he set out to build a module compatible with the calculator by using an I2C port expander to interface with a radio receiver module. Now he can sniff out signals between 2.400 and 2.495 GHz and display the finds like in the image above.
[Thanks Cecil] | 9 | 9 | [
{
"comment_id": "163390",
"author": "Xiver",
"timestamp": "2010-07-29T15:19:01",
"content": "Very nice. I’m going to try and duplicate this project. Thanks for the work and explaination Michael.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "163437",
"au... | 1,760,377,400.332427 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2010/07/29/ice-tube-clock-gps/ | Ice Tube Clock GPS | Devlin Thyne | [
"clock hacks",
"gps hacks"
] | [
"ice",
"tube"
] | Our favorite Soviet-Era display that found its way into a present-day
kit
now
displays time from orbiting satellites
. A GPS module patched into an Ice Tube Clock with
modified firmware
will be able to provide a satellite-synced time. The firmware, modified by yours truly, parses the GPS module’s NMEA RMC sentences for the time and date information and then updates the clock’s time and date. Fun was had making sure the alarm went off at the correct times when the time was updated by the GPS. Overall, it was a fun project and we look forward to seeing additional Ice Tube Clock hacks. | 22 | 21 | [
{
"comment_id": "163361",
"author": "MS3FGX",
"timestamp": "2010-07-29T13:33:06",
"content": "Nice job, but wouldn’t it have been cheaper, easier, and more practical/accurate to sync up with an atomic clock? I seem to recall HaD running a simple project that used one of the atomic clock radios; the ... | 1,760,377,402.227959 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2010/07/28/flipping-pancakes/ | Flipping Pancakes | Mike Szczys | [
"Robots Hacks"
] | [
"arm",
"flip",
"kinesthetic",
"motion tracking",
"pancake",
"robot",
"wam"
] | [Petar and Sylvain] are
teaching this robot to flip pancakes
. It starts with some kinesthetic learning; a human operator moves the robot arm to flip a pancake while the robot records the motion. Next, motion tracking is used so that the robot can improve during its learning process. It eventually gets the hang of it, as you can see after the break, but we wonder how this will work with real batter. This is a simulated pancake so the weight and amount at of force necessary to unstick it from the pan is always the same. Still, we loved
the robotic pizza maker
and if they get this to work it’ll earn a special place in our hearts.
[Thanks Ferdinand via
Flabber
] | 26 | 26 | [
{
"comment_id": "163102",
"author": "MiGs",
"timestamp": "2010-07-28T18:18:57",
"content": "Impressed! It never gets tired, nor does it need to be happy to make food, and the best part is you don’t need to wear a matching shirt every time you go outside!",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
... | 1,760,377,401.924956 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2010/08/01/multi-purpose-welding-cart/ | Multi-purpose Welding Cart | Mike Szczys | [
"Tool Hacks"
] | [
"cart",
"harbor freight",
"mig",
"plasma",
"welding"
] | [Todd Harrison]
put together a welding cart
that has all kinds of tricks built-in. The carcass is a cheap rolling cart that has been reinforced with steel plate and beefier wheels. The top tray can be loaded up with fire brick for oxygen-acetylene welding or with a grate for cutting. That grate lets the slag fall through and into the red-rimmed fire-box below. Finally, there’s a steel plate to the right of the cart that rotates and slides over the top of the unit to prepare it for MIG welding. Todd walks us through his versatile invention in the video after the break. This will nicely augment
your other welding hacks
.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mR1cLIOf_Vc] | 11 | 11 | [
{
"comment_id": "164550",
"author": "ladz",
"timestamp": "2010-08-01T18:00:31",
"content": "Neat.Just add a removable “top hat” kind of shell to that firebrick section and you’ve got a little forge too.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "164566",
... | 1,760,377,402.091864 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2010/08/01/save-a-baby-nursery-temperature-monitor/ | Save A Baby, Nursery Temperature Monitor | Jakob Griffith | [
"home hacks",
"LED Hacks"
] | [
"AVR",
"baby",
"led",
"monitor",
"schematic",
"SIDS",
"temperature"
] | Yes, you could argue this
Nursery Room Temperature Monitor
is simply an LED and an Arduino with a temperature sensor, but [Jay] really did put more thought into the process. For instance he stuck with AVR, built a wooden base and sanded globe, and even included schematics and source code. Plus,
SIDS
is no laughing matter and the more you know, the more it can be prevented. Back on point, one thing we would add is PWM for a more gradual change in color. What would you add?
[youtube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NdjNMlmBXfA&feature=player_embedded%5D | 36 | 36 | [
{
"comment_id": "164526",
"author": "Simon",
"timestamp": "2010-08-01T15:38:57",
"content": "Another globe connected to it wirelessly (or many globes connected to a master with LCD) to report the temperature when you aren’t in the room.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},... | 1,760,377,402.764874 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2010/07/31/xt-ide-controller/ | XT IDE Controller | Mike Szczys | [
"News"
] | [
"dos",
"ide",
"isa",
"ms-dos",
"xt",
"xtide"
] | [Geordy] wanted to use some IDE devices but he didn’t have an interface card for his XT system, which can’t handle 16-bit IDE. He looked around for 8-bit ISA controllers but they were hard to find and quite expensive. Lucky for him there’s an open source project that makes a solution to this problem.
The XTIDE project
brought together a group of vintage computing enthusiasts to design this ISA card. [Geordy] was even able to order a professional PCB from one of the forum members. He
ordered the parts an soldered it together
, costing about $30 total. He had a friend help him burn the code to the EEPROM but that’s easy enough to do
with an Arduino
,
Bus Pirate
, or one of several other methods. Now his grand plans at installing DOS 6.22 have been realized. | 35 | 35 | [
{
"comment_id": "164337",
"author": "MS3FGX",
"timestamp": "2010-07-31T20:32:25",
"content": "So he, uh, put together a kit that he bought online?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "164341",
"author": "Brooks",
"timestamp": "2010-07-31T20:4... | 1,760,377,402.044609 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2010/07/31/defcon-18-official-badges/ | DefCon 18 Official Badges | Mike Szczys | [
"cons"
] | [
"badge",
"defcon",
"epic",
"joe grand",
"official"
] | The details are out for the
DefCon 18 badges
. The new design has a lot of goodies packed into it, most notably a 128×32 LCD display. You can’t see it in the image above because it’s on the other side of the badge; the ribbon cable passes through a slit in the substrate to reach the connector on the back. The board has a mini-USB connector and is meant to get even the unseasoned novice up and running with some firmware tweaks. The Freescale processor (which is the same chip as
last year’s badge
) is running a bootloader that can be accessed and flashed using a terminal program. Yeah… impressive.
But it doesn’t stop with the component selection or firmware mastery, these badges are beautiful too. What you see above is the prototype, but the 7780 badges produced come in seven different flavors (as usual), laser etched on a PCB that uses Aluminum as the substrate. Line up all the badges side-to-side and you get a graphic art storyboard. [Joe] outdid himself this year, and he’s been nice enough to share the development details (
PDF
) which we spent way too much time drooling over.
[Thanks Kim] | 18 | 17 | [
{
"comment_id": "164238",
"author": "Landon",
"timestamp": "2010-07-31T16:12:26",
"content": "looks beautiful, i wonder what the picture is gonna be with them all lined up together.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "164241",
"author": "ahmad",... | 1,760,377,402.280306 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2010/07/30/scoreboard-from-scratch/ | Scoreboard From Scratch | Mike Szczys | [
"LED Hacks"
] | [
"atmega328",
"iphone",
"pcb",
"scoreboard",
"wifi",
"wifly"
] | [Kenneth] built this
scoreboard for use at a ballpark
that lacks such luxuries. We think this a phenomenal application for his skill and his pocketbook. He laid out PCBs for each digit in Eagle and etched them himself, then installed the indicators for home score, visitor score, inning, balls, strikes, and outs in a laser cut case. A pretty beefy battery along with the folding stand make this quite portable.
In the demo video after the break he’s connected to the scoreboard via telnet to update the score. This trick is accomplished using
SparkFun’s WiFly GSX
breakout board to set up an adhoc wireless network. The goal is to write an iPhone app that will be used to control the board in the field (or the outfield as it were).
This could definitely be
used for different types of scoring during the off season
.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ccw5WhbPVZ4] | 22 | 21 | [
{
"comment_id": "163917",
"author": "vonskippy",
"timestamp": "2010-07-30T20:31:25",
"content": "Too bad no actual photo’s of the thing in use – outdoors – in the sun – from 50 feet away.Looks way too small to score anything but a ping pong match.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replie... | 1,760,377,402.482818 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2010/07/30/building-a-better-water-rocket-launchpad/ | Building A Better Water Rocket Launchpad | Mike Szczys | [
"Toy Hacks"
] | [
"2-liter",
"bottle",
"launcher",
"pressurized",
"PVC",
"water rocket"
] | School will be starting again in a few weeks but it’s not too late to enjoy a little time with your kids. This
water rocket launcher
lets you do just that. Built using the frame from an old grill, a soda bottle takes its place on the upturned PVC pipe. There’s a connection for your garden hose that allows you to inject water into the bottle. From there, a compressor connection pressurizes the bottle in preparation for launch. Watch it happen in the video after the break. That bottle could use some fins and a nose cone but there’s no denying the delight the kids are enjoying when they chase after the downed craft.
If you’ve already got a compressor and some empty 2-liter bottles you might also pick up some extra PVC to make this
pressurized water cannon
. | 13 | 13 | [
{
"comment_id": "163891",
"author": "sojcny",
"timestamp": "2010-07-30T19:24:48",
"content": "“not to let to enjoy” -> not too late to enjoy and there is no video after the break.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "163902",
"author": "Steve",... | 1,760,377,401.972517 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2010/07/30/elegant-wearable-computer/ | Elegant Wearable Computer | Jakob Griffith | [
"Wearable Hacks"
] | [
"aa",
"angstrom",
"battery",
"beagleboard",
"computer",
"display",
"linux",
"myvu",
"sun glasses",
"wearable"
] | [Jason Statham]
[Martin Magnusson] wrote in to tell us about his adventure in
building a wearable computer
. The device in its current state is a
Beagleboard
running Angstrom Linux tethered to an iPhone for internet. A bluetooth keyboard allows for input, while output is displayed on
monocle-ized Myvu
. And last but not least, the entire setup is powered by 4 AA batteries for 3 hours of life.
Its not as small as some of the wearable computers
we’ve seen before
, but if you wanted to whip out your own it sure takes a lot less soldering. | 50 | 50 | [
{
"comment_id": "163862",
"author": "Vonskippy",
"timestamp": "2010-07-30T18:15:40",
"content": "Do you actually know what the word “elegant” means?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "163867",
"author": "Erik Johnson",
"timestamp": "2010-07... | 1,760,377,402.420688 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2010/07/26/long-arms-required-electronic-trombone-2/ | Long Arms Required, Electronic Trombone | Jakob Griffith | [
"digital audio hacks"
] | [
"aluminum",
"bluetooth",
"circuit bending",
"competition",
"electronic",
"music",
"slide",
"tomas henriques",
"trombone",
"violin"
] | [youtube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0sX4Dleqz_0&feature=player_embedded%5D
Sadly, the video above is the only information we were able to find on the “Double Slide Controller” trombone, built by composer Tomás Henriques. As well as, the instrument took first place in the Georgia Tech Center
Guthman Musical Instruments Competition
. Right in front of a
Bluetooth bow for violins
, and a
circuit bending group
from New York, and…wait; it beat out our
favorite modified didgeridoo
? Better luck next year. | 23 | 23 | [
{
"comment_id": "162218",
"author": "omnomnomnom",
"timestamp": "2010-07-26T15:02:34",
"content": "It sounds great! Good work.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "162224",
"author": "Bob",
"timestamp": "2010-07-26T15:28:02",
"content": "... | 1,760,377,402.337567 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2010/07/25/hackaday-links-july-25-2010/ | Hackaday Links: July 25, 2010 | Mike Szczys | [
"Hackaday links"
] | [
"blackberry",
"host",
"radio",
"splice",
"time-lapse"
] | Radio Receiver
If you never got the chance to build one as a kid [JoOngle] takes you through the steps to
build your own radio receiver
. Details are a bit scarce but it’s nothing your friend Google can’t help you out with.
Fixing a Blackberry trackball
If your Blackberry trackball stops working well you can
try this non-technical fix
. Remember when mice used to have a ball in them and you would need to clean out the gunk from time to time? Forcefully skidding your Blackberry across a piece of paper does a similar service.
Linux time lapse
Open source can be a great help to small businesses. Here’s a way to use a
Linux machine to make time-lapse movies from surveillance camera
feeds. We especially enjoy the use of a desktop wallpaper that has the terminal commands necessary to start recording.
Host a webpage with Dropbox
Here’s a way to
host a simple webpage using Dropbox
. It’s one of those easy ideas that you wouldn’t come up with yourself. When you place an HTML file in your Dropbox you can get a public URL which will be built as a webpage when visited with a browser.
Inline splicing
To round out the weekend here’s [Osgeld’s] tips on
inline wire splicing
. We laughed as he recounted spearing himself with stray strands. This is pretty simple stuff but he’s explained it well and who’s to pass up a good tip? | 20 | 20 | [
{
"comment_id": "162025",
"author": "Joe",
"timestamp": "2010-07-25T20:36:18",
"content": "Sorry, but the splice instructions are wrong.For stranded wire, as shown in the tutorial, you should open the strands and mesh them into each other before twisting together. This is much stronger and not prone... | 1,760,377,402.560226 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2010/07/25/alternative-morse-code-keys/ | Alternative Morse Code Keys | Mike Szczys | [
"Wireless Hacks"
] | [
"cw",
"key",
"morse code",
"radio"
] | Add a bit of interest to your radio equipment with one of these
unorthodox CW keys
. [OH6DC] has been hard at work posting almost sixty of these hacks. Above you can see an alarm clock whose snooze button acts as the key, and a nail clipper used as a key. There’s a banana , a cross-country ski shoe , and a toaster key. The rest you’ll have to see for yourself. Any of these would work perfectly with that
Morse code keyboard
you’ve been wanting to build. | 18 | 18 | [
{
"comment_id": "161997",
"author": "anon",
"timestamp": "2010-07-25T18:11:53",
"content": "Why?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "162004",
"author": "baobrien",
"timestamp": "2010-07-25T18:33:29",
"content": "Banana!?",
"parent_id... | 1,760,377,402.818276 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2010/07/25/guitar-effect-shield-for-maple/ | Guitar Effect Shield For Maple | Mike Szczys | [
"digital audio hacks"
] | [
"arm",
"effect",
"filter",
"guitar",
"maple"
] | [Okie] designed this
audio effect shield for Maple
. You’ll remember that
Maple is a prototyping system
built around an ARM processor, so there’s plenty of power and speed under the hood. First and foremost, the shield provides input and output filters to keep noise out of the system. From there a set of potentiometers let you change the effect, with the manipulation like echo, distortion, and ring modulation happening in the firmware. | 10 | 10 | [
{
"comment_id": "161986",
"author": "Javajunkie",
"timestamp": "2010-07-25T17:21:42",
"content": "And now to design an arduino equivalent.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "161996",
"author": "WeAreTheScientist",
"timestamp": "2010-07-25T1... | 1,760,377,403.037782 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2010/07/25/extremely-organized-prototyping/ | Extremely Organized Prototyping | Mike Szczys | [
"Tool Hacks"
] | [
"briefcase",
"organize",
"pic",
"prototyping"
] | We’ve got a couple of very high-tech shoe boxes in which we store our prototyping accessories. You’ll find a collection of LCD modules, chips on breakout boards, switches soldered to homemade boards for easy breadboarding, and much more. That is assuming you can find anything in that mess of components.
[Shahriar] took a different approach. He’s mounted
all of his prototyping gear inside of a briefcase
. This large collection of high-end boards include PIC prototyping, various LCD screens, and a large portion of SparkFun’s stocked boards. It’s much more advanced than
the Arduino to-go platform
, and you can see a full walk through of the system after the break.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bw9w8wbnYNE]
Short overview
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iKyCSCaQ3tQ]
Full monte | 55 | 50 | [
{
"comment_id": "161966",
"author": "SS",
"timestamp": "2010-07-25T15:39:31",
"content": "ADD or extreme OCD?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "161972",
"author": "biozz",
"timestamp": "2010-07-25T15:50:50",
"content": "i like it … but... | 1,760,377,402.991708 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2010/07/24/daft-punk-helmet-replica-finally-completed/ | Daft Punk Helmet Replica Finally Completed | Mike Szczys | [
"Wearable Hacks"
] | [
"costume",
"daft punk",
"helmet",
"replica",
"sculpting",
"vacuum forming"
] | [Harrison Krix]
finished his Daft Punk Helmet
replica and posted about it this week. We took a look at
his work back in October
but he’s come a long way to pull off a legendary build. Take three minutes after the break and see 17 months worth of work. So many skills were pulled together to make this happen; sculpting, mold making, painting, electronic design, mechanical design, and bad-ass-ery. Crammed in along with your noggin are a bag-full of LED boards but the Arduino that controls it all resides outside, in a project box tethered to the helmet. This is a masterpiece of socially-unwearable geek fashion.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H0TBZeCgL0E&feature=player_embedded]
[Thanks Eric & Kirov] | 65 | 50 | [
{
"comment_id": "161792",
"author": "Tech B.",
"timestamp": "2010-07-24T18:06:27",
"content": "This makes me want to build one.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "161794",
"author": "r2d2",
"timestamp": "2010-07-24T18:23:55",
"content":... | 1,760,377,402.906365 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2010/07/24/adding-mute-to-a-bluetooth-headset/ | Adding Mute To A Bluetooth Headset | Mike Szczys | [
"Cellphone Hacks"
] | [
"bluetooth",
"motorcycle",
"mute",
"spdt"
] | [Jared] often needs to be on conference calls for work during his motorcycle commute. He’s got a bluetooth headset that cancels noise but it didn’t have a mute feature. He cracked open the speaker and microphone portion of the apparatus but there wasn’t enough room for a switch. The base unit which houses the noise cancelling hardware had plenty of room. He
added a single pole double throw (SPDT) switch
to the positive wire from the microphone, allowing him to disconnect it as a mute function would. He mentions the need to seal the unit with silicone after the hack in order to keep out the elements. We might have opted for a weather-proof switch as well.
This simple hack makes a nice addition to any
Bluetooth projects
you’re working on. | 25 | 25 | [
{
"comment_id": "161778",
"author": "JerTheRipper",
"timestamp": "2010-07-24T16:10:49",
"content": "I wish I had a job where I could do conference calls from my motorcycle.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "161781",
"author": "4104480",
"t... | 1,760,377,403.10085 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2010/07/24/teensy-credit-card-reader/ | Teensy Credit Card Reader | Mike Szczys | [
"classic hacks",
"Peripherals Hacks"
] | [
"credit card",
"magnetic",
"magstripe",
"reader",
"Teensy"
] | Here’s a hack that makes business sense. [PT] recalls last year’s HOPE conference when their booth was using a virtual credit card terminal for purchases that required manual entry of card information. This year they’ll have the same virtual terminal but
this magnetic stripe reader
will fill it out automatically.
A magstripe reader (reading only,
no funny business
here) from Mouser grabs data from the card. A Teensy microcontroller board, which identifies itself as a USB keyboard, automatically fills out the virtual terminal from the parsed data. The real question, are his customers comfortable sliding their plastic through a hacked reader? | 26 | 26 | [
{
"comment_id": "161751",
"author": "Kirby",
"timestamp": "2010-07-24T13:17:29",
"content": "Are there any magnet based cards left?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "161752",
"author": "blue carbuncle",
"timestamp": "2010-07-24T13:37:11",
... | 1,760,377,403.162383 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2010/07/23/20-channel-dmx-controller/ | 20-channel DMX Controller | Mike Szczys | [
"home hacks"
] | [
"AVR",
"christmas",
"dmx",
"halloween",
"lights"
] | [Joshua] shares his details on building this
20-channel DMX controller
. He’s sourced some extension cords to cut up for the complicated wiring project. He plans to drive 120V lights with the system so he’s also using the extension cords to connect a bunch of outlet boxes to the main controller. Inside you’ll find a set of AVR chips ready for your commands. Instead of using jumpers or DIP switches to set their addresses he set them in the firmware and burned a different version to each chip. The key here is writing the address right on the chips to prevent any confusion.
This will be used of Halloween and Christmas displays. We love
Halloween hacks
just about as much as we love
Christmas hacks
, so hit the basement and don’t forget to
share the result of your labors
with us. | 29 | 27 | [
{
"comment_id": "161569",
"author": "poiso",
"timestamp": "2010-07-23T21:14:17",
"content": "While cool these things always make me cringe, Those outlet boxes + extension cords makes me question the safety of a setup like this.especially if it is planned on being used outside, or inside.If I was goi... | 1,760,377,403.372038 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2010/07/23/spirograph-generator/ | Spirograph Generator | Mike Szczys | [
"Misc Hacks"
] | [
"propeller",
"spirograph",
"stepper"
] | The
Agnewgraph I
can turn out a pretty nice Spirograph drawing. Instead of relying on meticulously acurate CNC hardware, it uses a Spirograph stencil similiar to
that business card we’re so fond of
. The key to the [Mpark’s] design is an analog joystick which is attached to the pen. As the pen follows the plastic guide around, a Propeller microcontroller calculates the angle of travel based on that joystick. These measurements are used to decide how to move the two stepper motors that provide horizontal and vertical motion to the frame. We’ve attached a video after the break just in case our rough description didn’t do it for you.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U2KsvADOGDw] | 8 | 8 | [
{
"comment_id": "161558",
"author": "compukidmike",
"timestamp": "2010-07-23T20:33:00",
"content": "Nice work, even if it is excruciatingly slow! I have to wonder if the control algorithm can be sped up, or if it’s a limitation of the motors chosen, or if it has a tendency to make mistakes if it goe... | 1,760,377,403.308735 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2010/07/23/terminal-node-controller-in-a-router/ | Terminal Node Controller In A Router | Mike Szczys | [
"Radio Hacks",
"Wireless Hacks"
] | [
"APRS",
"dlink",
"dls-502t",
"radio",
"terminal node controller",
"tnc"
] | [Andrew] used
a DSL router to make his own Terminal Node Controller
. This will become part of an
APRS-IS
network, an Internet-based network built by amateur radio operators. The router used here is a Dlink DSL-502T with an AVR based TNC module attached to the serial port header. The phone line connector and its accompanying hardware have been removed to make room for the TNC module, which is supplied with 12V via that red wire. When the router boots up it sends data to the serial port header so the firmware on the TNC needed some tweaking to accommodate this (yay for open source).
Want some more APRS goodness? Check out this
AVR APRS tracker
. | 17 | 17 | [
{
"comment_id": "161523",
"author": "andrew",
"timestamp": "2010-07-23T17:37:30",
"content": "this is awesome! i love amateur radio, it seems like such an underutilized area these days.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "161528",
"author": "hp... | 1,760,377,403.423974 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2010/07/23/a-bicycle-build-for-2-0/ | A Bicycle Build For… 2.0 | Mike Szczys | [
"Transportation Hacks"
] | [
"bicycle",
"electric",
"kinetic",
"tandem"
] | Here’s
an interesting way to fill the second seat on your tandem
bicycle. It seems no one ever wants to be
the stoker
, so this gentleman decided to
build
his riding partner. JouleS powers the bicycle from the back using the same motions a human would. It’s not the easiest way to make an electric bicycle but
the mechanics that went into it
are quite beautiful. See the old boy pedaling away after the beak.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HcW-VzpgcE8]
[Thanks Mowcius] | 24 | 24 | [
{
"comment_id": "161490",
"author": "Wraith",
"timestamp": "2010-07-23T15:36:02",
"content": "While I can appreciate the work and engineering that went into this, I think I’d rather just pick up a stokemonkey. Plus you wouldn’t need the training wheels.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
... | 1,760,377,403.541819 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2010/07/22/all-thats-needed-is-a-retro-paintjob-minimame/ | All That’s Needed Is A Retro Paintjob, MiniMAME | Jakob Griffith | [
"home entertainment hacks"
] | [
"cabinet",
"fun",
"game",
"light",
"mame",
"mini",
"netbook"
] | [Tim’s] miniMAME
‘s construction follows the “light and cheap” approach, using foam core board and hot glue. Sure it won’t last a nuclear attack, but at least it’s light enough to carry to a friend’s house.
With a removable netbook at the core, CCFLs, speakers, trackball, and mini arcade fighting stick,
the project
completely surpassed our expectations. For those looking to
build a miniMAME
, [Tim] includes lots of pictures, details, and plans allowing anyone to make their own in about an afternoon. | 22 | 22 | [
{
"comment_id": "161381",
"author": "Paul",
"timestamp": "2010-07-23T01:56:35",
"content": "love it :)it makes Mame cabinets alot more accessible, not to mention that I own that exact same netbooknice work cutting an acrylic cover for the ‘control deck’, makes a big difference although cutting in ac... | 1,760,377,403.482644 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2010/07/22/release-the-kraken-open-source-gsm-cracking-tool-released/ | Release The Kraken: Open Source GSM Cracking Tool Released. | Caleb Kraft | [
"Cellphone Hacks",
"Security Hacks"
] | [
"cell",
"gsm",
"karaken",
"nol"
] | Open source GSM cracking software called “Kraken” has been
released into the wild
. You may recognize some of the information from back in December when we announced that they had
cracked GSM encryption
. Well, now you can participate as well. You’ll need a pretty beefy Linux machine and some patience. They say that an easier GUI and support for GPU processing is coming in the near future.
[Thanks Eliot Via
Slashdot
and
PCWorld
] | 30 | 28 | [
{
"comment_id": "161310",
"author": "João Pedro Pereira",
"timestamp": "2010-07-22T20:09:50",
"content": "Excelent news, I’ll try to give my contribute to the cause !",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "161312",
"author": "xorpunk",
"timesta... | 1,760,377,403.644974 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2010/07/22/making-mobile-audio-work-at-home/ | Making Mobile Audio Work At Home | Mike Szczys | [
"home entertainment hacks"
] | [
"amp",
"amplifier",
"atx",
"psu",
"volvo"
] | [Nikita] made a great find while cleaning out his garage: a set of audio amplifiers from a 1986 Volvo. After a bit of testing, he dislodged a stuck relay and set out to
use these amps for a home audio system
. He grabbed some left over brackets from his TV mount and used them as rail mounts. On the back he wired standard speaker connectors and RCA connectors to the wiring harness for the amplifiers. The final aspect is powering up the device, for which he used his ATX psu previously modified as a bench supply. 130-Watts of power for the cost of a few connectors.
We surprise to find we haven’t covered this common ATX bench-supply conversion before. What we have seen is
an adapter to use one as a bench supply
. | 45 | 44 | [
{
"comment_id": "161265",
"author": "jh",
"timestamp": "2010-07-22T18:06:26",
"content": "Old AT power supplies are even easier to use for this… no adapters needed for the power switch. Just wire up a molex to your power and grounds and plug into the power supply.",
"parent_id": null,
"dept... | 1,760,377,403.729595 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2010/07/22/mouse-controlled-manipulator-arm/ | Mouse Controlled Manipulator Arm | Mike Szczys | [
"Robots Hacks"
] | [
"al5d",
"arduino",
"arm",
"claw",
"host",
"lynxmotion",
"mouse",
"servo",
"shield",
"usb"
] | [Oleg] worked out a way to use his
USB mouse to control this manipulator arm
. Using a Lynxmotion AL5D (
we’ve seen the AL5A previously
) he drives the six servos with an Arduino servo shield. A USB host shield handles the HID end for connecting the mouse. The video after the break says it all, [Oleg] has no problem picking up that figurine quickly and accurately. Sliding the mouse controls horizontal movement in all directions. The scroll wheel moves the claw up and down. And holding the left or right buttons what using the control wheel closes or rotates the claw. All we can say is: Bigger,
BIGGER
!
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nz_tgDD8FNw] | 22 | 22 | [
{
"comment_id": "161243",
"author": "FO fan",
"timestamp": "2010-07-22T16:12:47",
"content": "Nice Vault-Tec Bobble-head!",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "161246",
"author": "FedeOrtiz",
"timestamp": "2010-07-22T16:28:03",
"content": ... | 1,760,377,403.787923 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2010/07/22/adding-a-serial-port-to-a-dockstar/ | Adding A Serial Port To A Dockstar | Mike Szczys | [
"classic hacks"
] | [
"dockstar",
"seagate",
"serial"
] | If you don’t look close you might think this Seagate Dockstar is in stock condition. But look at the three holes in the white case just above the thumb drive which act as
a serial connection for the Dockstar
. [Firestorm_v1] posted the instructions after see our post about
installing OpenWRT on the device
. He did a nice job of concealing the connection, heating up a pin header to melt the holes he needed. Now he has quick access without sacrificing features or aesthetics. A serial-to-USB cable is modified with a polarized pin header to ensure a quick and accurate connection. This is great for PC connectivity but you also never know when you want to
add your own hardware bits
to the network device. | 9 | 8 | [
{
"comment_id": "161365",
"author": "cde",
"timestamp": "2010-07-23T00:24:33",
"content": "I wish I could find these for cheap. Anyone have a spare one for like 15 + shipping?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "161469",
"author": "ChalkBored",
... | 1,760,377,404.144411 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2010/07/22/chipophone-plays-video-game-classics/ | Chipophone Plays Video Game Classics | Mike Szczys | [
"Musical Hacks"
] | [
"74hc165",
"8 bit",
"ATmega88",
"organ",
"synthesizer"
] | This thrift shop organ gets a new life as an 8-bit music maker. Called
the Chipophone
, it relies on an ATmega88 to produce sounds that you might associate with classic video gaming. [Linus Akesson] takes us through all of the different sound settings in the video after the break, including performances of your theme music favorites.
The original organ uses transistor logic making it rather easy to patch into the hardware. Thanks to
the build log
we know that [Linus] used 74HC165 input latches to monitor each of the switches for the 120 inputs. Fifteen of these latches work like a backwards shift register 74HC595, cascading all of the parallel inputs into one serial signal. From there the microcontroller takes over, monitoring the keys, pedals, switches, and potentiometers and outputting the appropriate sounds.
[Thanks 7e] | 24 | 24 | [
{
"comment_id": "161219",
"author": "none",
"timestamp": "2010-07-22T14:17:13",
"content": "“backwards shift register” the correct term is parallel to serial shift register and the other is serial to parallel shift register",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"com... | 1,760,377,404.016813 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2010/07/21/tailgating-this-car-carries-a-heavy-penalty/ | Tailgating This Car Carries A Heavy Penalty | Mike Szczys | [
"Transportation Hacks"
] | [
"beetle",
"engine",
"jet",
"street legal",
"vw"
] | This hack seems simple enough:
1. Open hatchback
2. Insert jet engine
3. Profit
Actually, the guy who
added a jet engine to a VW Beetle
has a PhD in Mechanical Engineering from Stanford. He claims this is street legal, and even has a snapshot of the police trying to figure out what to charge him with after stopping him on the road. There’s plenty of details and we’re not questioning [Ron Patrick’s] competence, but having the intake for the turbine inside the cab of the vehicle seems a bit insane. He remarks that “it’s a little windy but not unbearable”… yeah.
One the same page you’ll find his dual-jet modified scooter. The starting cost there is considerably less, especially if you
build your own ram jets
.
[Thanks Goldscott] | 68 | 50 | [
{
"comment_id": "160970",
"author": "Mattj",
"timestamp": "2010-07-21T20:02:03",
"content": "Not to be funny, but this has been around for quite a while, I can’t believe you haven’t seen it!",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "160972",
"author":... | 1,760,377,404.097025 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2010/07/21/cnc-hardware-stream-g-code-to-an-arduino/ | CNC Hardware: Stream G-code To An Arduino | Mike Szczys | [
"Arduino Hacks",
"cnc hacks"
] | [
"arduino",
"cnc",
"g-code",
"grbl",
"stepper"
] | [Reza Naima] has been using an Arduino as the center of his CNC setup for quite some time now. It handles three stepper motors, limiting switches, e-stop, and spindle control. The sketch he’s using allows him to stream g-code to the popular prototyping platform, freeing him from needing a dedicated PC. It’s worked so well that he’s decided to clean up the code and develop a shield to help others get up and running. If you want to see his progress or lend a hand, check out
the google group he started
for the schematics, code, and forum discussions. There is already
a CNC project for Arduino called Grbl
but [Reza’s] approach uses the Arduino libraries in an effort to make the sketch more customizable for the average user. | 19 | 19 | [
{
"comment_id": "160964",
"author": "klk",
"timestamp": "2010-07-21T19:22:05",
"content": "i’m doing something similar with an xmega-based controller board, but instead of building a g-code parser, i’m piggybacking on the work of the reprap folks and their sanguino3g protocol, which is cheap to impl... | 1,760,377,403.963501 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2010/07/21/android-development-101-part-3introduction-to-databases/ | Android Development 101 – Part 3:Introduction To Databases | Greg R. Jacobs | [
"Android Hacks",
"Software Development"
] | [
"android",
"code",
"dev",
"development",
"google"
] | In this tutorial we will be pivoting from our last tutorial on
Graphical Elements
to start focusing on databases in Android development. The android platform uses SQLite databases in its applications and is one of five data storage options in android development. We will only be focusing on SQLite development in android because it is key to the construction of a workable/functional program. After this tutorial you should be able to implement a SQLite database that you are then able to insert and select items from tables in the database.
For this project we will be creating a Random Quote generator that has you enter quotes or sayings in a textbox and press a button to insert them into the database. We will issue a confirmation toast that allows us to see if the data was entered into the database successfully and the textbox will be blank. If a second button is pressed, the database will be accessed and told to select a random quote from the database to show in a toast on the screen.
To start off we will make a new project called
RandomQuotes
. In
part one
of the series we stepped through making a new project so we wont walk through all of the steps again but instead I will just give you the information you need. The information to get this project up and running bare bones is as follows:
Project Name:
RandomQuotes
Build Target:
Android 1.5
Application Name:
RandomQuotes
Package Name:
com.gregjacobs.randomquotes
Create Activity:
QuotesMain
Min SDK Version:
3
After inserting these values and you have pressed Finish we will start by making a class file in our
com.gregjacobs.randomquotes
package. To do this we will right click on the package and navigate to
New
then to
Class
. When the new window pops up the only data we will enter is the
Name
section filling it with
DBAdapter
. After this is done we press
Finish
and are presented with a bare bones class file that we will quickly start to modify. This tutorial will be like the last in the sense that code will be posted and I will explain the important parts and what functions are doing. The only difference from the previous tutorial code will be that I include text files as well as documenting the code here so you are able to download and compare. We will start off with the
DBAdapter.java
file:
package com.gregjacobs.randomquotes;
import java.util.Random;
import android.content.ContentValues;
import android.content.Context;
import android.database.Cursor;
import android.database.SQLException;
import android.database.sqlite.SQLiteDatabase;
import android.database.sqlite.SQLiteOpenHelper;
import android.util.Log;
We will start off by importing all of the tools required to get this SQLite Database up and running. All of these might be straightforward for database programmers but we will discuss them anyways.
ContentValues
allow us the ability to store a set of values for insert statements,
Context
as explained in the last post allows us access to the application environment.
Cursor
is probably the most vital import we will need next to the SQLite imports. Cursor allows us access to the data returned to the cursor from a database query.
SQLException
allows us to throw SQL exceptions if there is ever an error, these messages provide more insight as to what the problem may be.
SQLiteDatabase
gives us the ability to manage a SQLite database using methods.
SQLiteOpenHelper
is basically a helper class that allows for creation and version management of a database.
Log
will basically log output in case there is an error.
public class DBAdapter
{
int id = 0;
public static final String KEY_ROWID = "_id";
public static final String KEY_QUOTE = "Quote";
private static final String TAG = "DBAdapter";
private static final String DATABASE_NAME = "Random";
private static final String DATABASE_TABLE = "tblRandomQuotes";
private static final int DATABASE_VERSION = 1;
private static final String DATABASE_CREATE =
"create table tblRandomQuotes (_id integer primary key autoincrement, "
+ "Quote text not null );";
private final Context context;
private DatabaseHelper DBHelper;
private SQLiteDatabase db;
Here we define all of our variables to be used in the database from the database name right down to the database create statement. We are using final variables because they will never change values and making a variable for table names and the like will later on make our lives easier than hard-coding all of our values and commiting too much (remember the re-usability).
public DBAdapter(Context ctx)
{
this.context = ctx;
DBHelper = new DatabaseHelper(context);
}
private static class DatabaseHelper extends SQLiteOpenHelper
{
DatabaseHelper(Context context)
{
super(context, DATABASE_NAME, null, DATABASE_VERSION);
}
@Override
public void onCreate(SQLiteDatabase db)
{
db.execSQL(DATABASE_CREATE);
}
@Override
public void onUpgrade(SQLiteDatabase db, int oldVersion,
int newVersion)
{
Log.w(TAG, "Upgrading database from version " + oldVersion
+ " to "
+ newVersion + ", which will destroy all old data");
db.execSQL("DROP TABLE IF EXISTS tblRandomQuotes");
onCreate(db);
}
}
Above we define a constructor to grab the context of the application and extend that to our
DatabaseHelper
just under the constructor. The
DatabaseHelper
class extends our
SQLiteOpenHelper
which will add greater functionality to management of our SQLite database. The key function that we will see used later on will be
onCreate
which will allow us to execute a SQL statement to create our database.
//---opens the database---
public DBAdapter open() throws SQLException
{
db = DBHelper.getWritableDatabase();
return this;
}
//---closes the database---
public void close()
{
DBHelper.close();
}
Above we have two key functions that allow us to open and close the database that can be referenced when calling them in our main
.java
file.
//---insert a title into the database---
public long insertQuote(String Quote)
{
ContentValues initialValues = new ContentValues();
initialValues.put(KEY_QUOTE, Quote);
return db.insert(DATABASE_TABLE, null, initialValues);
}
The function above will be processing our quotes when we call them in the main
.java
file. It will also be getting them ready for entry into the database by putting the string
Quote
into a
ContentValues
called
initialValues
which is then inserted into the database table.
public int getAllEntries()
{
Cursor cursor = db.rawQuery(
"SELECT COUNT(Quote) FROM tblRandomQuotes", null);
if(cursor.moveToFirst()) {
return cursor.getInt(0);
}
return cursor.getInt(0);
}
This function will be querying the database table for the number of quotes entered so it can assist the random number generator in how high a number to choose so that we don’t throw an exception. We are using a
rawQuery
for the most part because I am personally not a huge fan of the way Android handles their queries ( having you enter in different parts of the statement in segments and separate them with commas) but I am impressed that they allow you to have full functionality with a native SQL query. The if statement will move the cursor to the first result (if there are many results) and grab the first integer it sees there. If the if statement is not true it will grab the result from the starting position anyways.
public String getRandomEntry()
{
id = getAllEntries();
Random random = new Random();
int rand = random.nextInt(getAllEntries());
if(rand == 0)
++rand;
Cursor cursor = db.rawQuery(
"SELECT Quote FROM tblRandomQuotes WHERE _id = " + rand, null);
if(cursor.moveToFirst()) {
return cursor.getString(0);
}
return cursor.getString(0);
}
}
This function will be called by the main
.java
program to return a random result based on the number of entries into our database. We use the function
getAllEntries
to get the number of quotes and we then tell our random variable that it can go no higher than
id
. In our select statement we then tell it to look for quote
WHERE _id = rand
which is our random number.
After this class file is completed, we have a fully reusable database adapter that is ready to start inserting quotes into the database. We now need to focus on both of the XML files which will be a quick trip down memory lane so code and pictures will be posted and we shouldn’t have to review as everything is basically from the
last post
. Here is the
main.xml
:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<LinearLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
android:orientation="vertical"
android:layout_width="fill_parent"
android:layout_height="fill_parent"
>
<TextView
android:layout_width="fill_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:text="@string/Quote"
/>
<EditText
android:id="@+id/Quote"
android:layout_width="fill_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
/>
<Button
android:id="@+id/go"
android:layout_width="fill_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:text="@string/press"
/>
<Button
android:id="@+id/genRan"
android:layout_width="fill_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:text="@string/genRan"
/>
</LinearLayout>
Here is the
strings.xml
file:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<resources>
<string name="Quote">Please Enter A Quote:</string>
<string name="app_name">Random Quotes</string>
<string name="press">Press Me!</string>
<string name="genRan">Generate Random Quote!</string>
</resources>
Both are pretty straight forward and the only difference from these files and the previous posts is the additional string node in
strings.xml
and the extra button in
main.xml
. Now we have the layout in place with everything where we want it to be it is now our task to code the
QuotesMain.java
file. This file will register our two buttons and attach them to one event handler using a switch statement. Here is the code for our
QuotesMain.java
file:
package com.gregjacobs.randomquotes;
import android.app.Activity;
import android.content.Context;
import android.os.Bundle;
import android.view.View;
import android.view.View.OnClickListener;
import android.widget.Button;
import android.widget.EditText;
import android.widget.Toast;
Here we are importing all of the required items to be able to pull this project together. All of these should be familiar to you from
Graphical Elements
and if they aren’t it is a good post to start on and work your way here.
public class QuotesMain extends Activity {
DBAdapter db = new DBAdapter(this);
EditText Quote;
/** Called when the activity is first created. */
@Override
public void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
setContentView(R.layout.main);
// Capture our button from layout
Button setButton = (Button)findViewById(R.id.go);
Button getButton = (Button)findViewById(R.id.genRan);
// Register the onClick listener with the implementation above
setButton.setOnClickListener(mAddListener);
getButton.setOnClickListener(mAddListener);
}
We now have to buttons being referenced by id and they are
getButton
(which gets the information from the text box and inserts it into the database) and
setButton
(which retrieves a random quote from the database depending on the number of items in the database). These both have the same event handler and decisions on what code to run are made below.
// Create an anonymous implementation of OnClickListener
private OnClickListener mAddListener = new OnClickListener()
{
public void onClick(View v)
{
switch(v.getId())
{
case R.id.go:
db.open();
long id = 0;
// do something when the button is clicked
try
{
Quote = (EditText)findViewById(R.id.Quote);
db.insertQuote(Quote.getText().toString());
id = db.getAllEntries();
Context context = getApplicationContext();
CharSequence text = "The quote '" + Quote.getText() + "' was added successfully!\nQuotes Total = " + id;
int duration = Toast.LENGTH_LONG;
Toast toast = Toast.makeText(context, text, duration);
toast.show();
Quote.setText("");
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
Context context = getApplicationContext();
CharSequence text = ex.toString() + "ID = " + id;
int duration = Toast.LENGTH_LONG;
Toast toast = Toast.makeText(context, text, duration);
toast.show();
}
db.close();
break;
In the above case statement we can see that we grab the text from the textbox and insert the data into the database using
db.insertQuote
from the
DBAdapter
java class. After a successful insertion we will display a toast that allows us to see what quote was entered in successfully and what the number of quotes in the database are.
case R.id.genRan:
db.open();
//long id1 = 0;
// do something when the button is clicked
try
{
String quote = "";
quote = db.getRandomEntry();
Context context = getApplicationContext();
CharSequence text = quote;
int duration = Toast.LENGTH_LONG;
Toast toast = Toast.makeText(context, text, duration);
toast.show();
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
Context context = getApplicationContext();
CharSequence text = ex.toString();
int duration = Toast.LENGTH_LONG;
Toast toast = Toast.makeText(context, text, duration);
toast.show();
}
db.close();
}
}
};
}
This case uses a string variable to reference the random entry we are pulling out of the database using
db.getRandomEntry
. We then display that data in a toast to show that the information was actually grabbed. All of this code when pulled together and displayed on an android screen should look like this:
Entering Text:
Displaying Random Entries:
With an introduction to databases for android covered you can start writing applications that require data storage such as the final product mentioned in the first post. There are a plethora of other features to cover in SQLite databasing for android. More of those will be covered in the next tutorial. Things such as updating your database, deleting entries and getting to know your way around the
DDMS
(Dalvik Debug Monitor Service) are all an essential part of android programming. If you can’t wait till the next article to check these articles on
DDMS
and
Updating and Deleting
. As always if anyone has problems, questions or issues don’t hesitate to ask and I will try my hardest to get back to you before the next post! Until the next time, Happy Hacking!
Text files of code for comparison:
DBAdapter
|
strings
|
main
|
QuotesMain
Articles used for reference:
DevX –
Creating and Using Databases in Android
Android Developers –
Reference Guide
Continue on to Part 4:
Advanced Database/GUI Code & DDMS | 72 | 50 | [
{
"comment_id": "160948",
"author": "Jeff",
"timestamp": "2010-07-21T18:13:12",
"content": "I’d really like to follow along with these posts, but do not have an Android device, and I’ve always heard bad things about the emulators.Confirm/deny? What’s a good low cost device to get up and running with... | 1,760,377,404.242946 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2010/07/21/break-out-the-two-ply-ecobot-iii-poops/ | Break Out The Two-ply, Ecobot III Poops | Jakob Griffith | [
"News",
"Robots Hacks"
] | [
"ecobot",
"food",
"hydrogen",
"MFC",
"microbial fuel cells",
"poop",
"robot",
"self sustaining",
"waste"
] | [youtube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qU6zi1_aZiw&feature=player_embedded%5D
Imagine our surprise when
this article
on
Ecobot III
and the
disgusting
video above showed up in our feed. The robot can theoretically be self-sustaining forever, so long as it has a food source. Yes, you read correctly, food.
Typical
robots relying on grub
burn the biomass to produce heat/steam/energy, but Ecobot III actually digests using Microbial Fuel Cells and extracts energy in the form of hydrogen.
The process isn’t very efficient (yet), and of course waste must be excreted, but we’re inching closer and closer to the day our robot overlords are invincible. The project has come to a halt (we can’t imagine why), but you can still read up
on the process
, and meet Ecobot’s brothers:
II
and
I
.
Related: We’re all going to die,
Carnivorous robots
. | 24 | 24 | [
{
"comment_id": "160931",
"author": "killerabbit",
"timestamp": "2010-07-21T17:05:12",
"content": "Nuke it from space. Now.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "160933",
"author": "therian",
"timestamp": "2010-07-21T17:13:28",
"content":... | 1,760,377,404.458262 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2010/07/21/led-matrix-with-a-gross-of-pixels/ | LED Matrix With A Gross Of Pixels | Mike Szczys | [
"LED Hacks"
] | [
"arduino",
"decade counter",
"marquee",
"matrix",
"shift register"
] | This LED matrix
is arranged in a 24×6 pattern for message scrolling. There’s no etched boards here, making us wonder where [Syst3mX] found protoboard this long. He’s using an Arduino to drive the demonstration (clip after the break) but you can use any microcontroller with this setup. That’s because he’s using three shift registers for column data and a decade counter for row scanning, requiring just five control pins.
While you’re going to the trouble of ordering components, maybe you should try your hand at building
a touch sensitive LED matrix
too.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wNNTbhYPA94] | 19 | 19 | [
{
"comment_id": "160914",
"author": "PowerPoint-Projectors",
"timestamp": "2010-07-21T16:09:40",
"content": "Sweet I want one!",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "160915",
"author": "jeff-o",
"timestamp": "2010-07-21T16:20:03",
"content"... | 1,760,377,404.401657 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2010/07/21/complete-the-hack-a-day-survey-win-a-shirt/ | Complete The Hack A Day Survey, Win A Shirt | Caleb Kraft | [
"News"
] | [
"content",
"feedback",
"quality",
"Rant",
"survey"
] | Take our
reader survey
. Do it. Do it right now. Do you think we should run more articles on the dietary needs of Llamas? Here is your chance to let us know. We got a lot of great feedback from
[Jason]’s post
, and now we’re ready for more. We’ve put together 10 quick questions that will help us get a feeling for what you want. We will be choosing 5 participants at random to give free
t-shirts
(the basic logo one).
Update: While we wait for our survey slave to get the changes made, please just put something in the fields that are mandatory(questions 7-9). Even if you put “no opinion”, we’ll get good info from the rest of the survey. | 77 | 50 | [
{
"comment_id": "160864",
"author": "extermin8tor",
"timestamp": "2010-07-21T13:45:02",
"content": "I think that its great that hackaday is taking opinions from readers. I think that the survey shouldnt have had the (*)starred questions compulsory, I have no idea about names of writers on the site a... | 1,760,377,404.545864 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2010/07/20/iphone-4-steadicam/ | IPhone 4 Steadicam | Jakob Griffith | [
"News"
] | [
"gimbal",
"iphone",
"smooth video",
"steadicam",
"steadycam",
"weight"
] | It’s been a while since we’ve seen a steadicam, and to quench our thirst is this
iPhone 4 steadicam
. The system does use the typical 3 axis PVC gimbal and heavy weight setup that we’ve
seen before
, but (why has it taken so long to
get this implemented
?) the addition of a hand grip means you no longer get blistered fingers. The tutorial recommends the use of an expensive cup holder mounting system, but we think making
your own epoxy one
might save another dime and allow a wider range of cameras or phones.
The whole process is also wrapped up in a quick and simple how-to video (after the jump alongside an in action video), which goes to show even though a hack may have been done several times before, presentation can make a big difference and impact.
[Thanks Max Lee]
Make your own:
[youtube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MKxMuwq22sM&feature=player_embedded%5D
See it in action:
[youtube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQOL7igfbjA&feature=player_embedded%5D | 25 | 24 | [
{
"comment_id": "160703",
"author": "Mex",
"timestamp": "2010-07-20T21:12:24",
"content": "That’s smart, but it doesn’t handle vertical giggle.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "160705",
"author": "zool",
"timestamp": "2010-07-20T21:16:19"... | 1,760,377,404.654096 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2010/07/20/rapid-furniture-prototyping/ | Rapid Furniture Prototyping | Mike Szczys | [
"home hacks"
] | [
"chair",
"cnc",
"furniture",
"laser",
"mill",
"sketch",
"sketchchair"
] | SketchChair
is a piece of software that takes the engineer out of engineering furniture. In a child’s-dream-come-true you draw the outlines you’d like to have, add some legs, and the software pops out a design ready to be laser-cut. The finishing touch of adding palm fiber and felt produces what we imagine is a moderately comfortable place to sit. Now the hard part will be convincing your spouse that you should spend the money building an industrial grade laser cutter because of all the money you’ll save on furniture.
We’re still holding out for furniture that is
3d-printed from rock
to match our Flintstone’s motif.
Oh, and as always, video after the break.
[vimeo=http://vimeo.com/9488518]
[via
Buildlog
] | 11 | 11 | [
{
"comment_id": "160702",
"author": "Drake",
"timestamp": "2010-07-20T21:11:54",
"content": "Yet another reason to finish my 2.5d milling machine",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "160731",
"author": "Marco",
"timestamp": "2010-07-21T00:00:... | 1,760,377,404.595694 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2010/07/20/ipad-arcade-dock-has-hidden-projector/ | IPad Arcade Dock Has Hidden Projector | Mike Szczys | [
"ipod hacks"
] | [
"arcade",
"ipad",
"Joystick",
"pico",
"projector",
"wii"
] | This iPad
dock is a well-executed gaming accessory
. [Linkreincarnate] used a
Hori Wii fighting stick
as the controller. In
his hardware explanation
he outlines several benefits of this choice including built-in support in most of the iPad emulators, as well as foregoing the need for a wired connection. Just above the controls there is a standard docking connector which holds the iPad in place and patches through the audio to some external speakers. But that’s not all that is included in the build, the final touch is a pico projector that can be used if you want a larger gaming experience. Video of the hardware and a gaming demonstration can be found after the break.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=297GlY3aDOc]
Hardware
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XIbF82U1jYY]
Gaming | 18 | 18 | [
{
"comment_id": "160689",
"author": "M4CGYV3R",
"timestamp": "2010-07-20T20:25:49",
"content": "I wish you wouldn’t encourage the MacTards and their silly plastic iCrap. Get a real computer you trend-latching neo hippies.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comme... | 1,760,377,404.715662 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2010/07/20/hands-free-input/ | Hands-free Input | Mike Szczys | [
"Peripherals Hacks"
] | [
"accelerometer",
"diabled",
"handicapped",
"hands free",
"mouse"
] | This is a concept input device that [Tech B] built for disabled users. The device uses an accelerometer along with a piezo sensor (right click) and a push button (left click) to function as a mouse. The Arduino that resides in a breadboard on the side of the hat communicates with the computer over a serial connection,
using PySerial
to translate the microcontroller data into cursor commands with the power and ease of the Python programming language.
During development [Tech B] made a proof-of-concept video using a Basic Stamp which you can watch after the break. He found that this input device was less complicated, more accurate, and much less resource intensive than
his webcam IR tracking system
. | 8 | 8 | [
{
"comment_id": "160665",
"author": "netshadow",
"timestamp": "2010-07-20T18:09:59",
"content": "“During development [Tech B] made a proof-of-concept video using a Basic Stamp which you can watch after the break.”Uh — no video here…",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{... | 1,760,377,404.764936 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2010/07/18/my-what-a-large-capacitor-bank-you-have/ | My What A Large Capacitor Bank You Have | Mike Szczys | [
"News"
] | [
"capacitor",
"coil gun",
"pneumatic",
"rail gun",
"switch"
] | [Daniel Eindhoven] put together this
11,344 Joule capacitor bank
that he says would be perfect for weapons such as
a rail gun
,
coil gun
, or electrothermal-chemical gun. He machined a couple of aluminum plates to act as a positive and negative bus. The two are separated by a denuded sheet of PCB (making us wonder how
he got the copper to peel off like that
). Once charged there’s the little problem of how to discharge the system without getting bit, which [Daniel] solved by
building a pneumatic switch
. We didn’t find the test-fire footage very interesting but we did embed the demonstration of his switch after the break.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mCX0RQm0nsk]
[Thanks Kurt via
Hacked Gadgets
] | 43 | 43 | [
{
"comment_id": "160142",
"author": "Wes",
"timestamp": "2010-07-18T20:22:48",
"content": "Am i doing something wrong because i can never click on any youtube videos on this site. does anybody know whats up?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "16014... | 1,760,377,404.899832 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2010/07/18/building-a-remote-control/ | Building A Remote Control | Mike Szczys | [
"Wireless Hacks"
] | [
"434 mhz",
"ATmega168",
"playstation",
"remote control"
] | Here’s
a homebrew remote control
that [Jad Berro] is developing. He’s using a tank robot to test it out but eventually he plans to use it to control an RC plane thanks the 434 MHz wireless module inside. There’s no shortage of input, with two analog sticks from a PlayStation controller, several momentary push buttons, and some toggle switches. Although it’s not shown in the picture above there is also a 16×2 character display that serves as part of the interface. With a navigable menu the only limit to what you can do is the programming space available on the ATmega168 that inhabits the homemade Arduino board at the heart of the system. It certainly would give the
robot remote from Friday
a run for its money. | 12 | 12 | [
{
"comment_id": "160129",
"author": "spyder_21",
"timestamp": "2010-07-18T19:44:19",
"content": "nice clean design. Just wondering are the buttons spaced too far apart? Just seems that way. But nice none the less",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id"... | 1,760,377,404.813487 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2010/07/18/arm-mounted-light-cannon-villains-beware/ | Arm Mounted Light Cannon; Villains Beware | Mike Szczys | [
"Wearable Hacks"
] | [
"arm",
"cannon",
"flash",
"hand",
"xenon"
] | In a hack worthy of the flick Kick Ass, [Chein] built this
arm-mounted light weapon
. The lamp in the palm of your hand has a ring of LEDs for a nice glowing effect, but the real story is the xenon bulb at its center. The flash capacitor and charge circuit from a disposable camera are used to step up the battery voltage to 330V for an intense and slightly blinding discharge. The charging is started when you press a button on the back of the hand harness, with the flash coming when one of your fingers touches a conveniently positioned trigger. Check it out after the break.
This non-lethal weapon makes for a nice alternative to the dangers involve in
playing with fire
.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nO2BNljqHt0] | 34 | 33 | [
{
"comment_id": "160111",
"author": "amishx64",
"timestamp": "2010-07-18T18:22:47",
"content": "I like it! Next step should be to make it smaller imo.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "514451",
"author": "Lord Boofhead",
"timesta... | 1,760,377,404.968733 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2010/07/18/making-glow-sticks-at-home/ | Making Glow Sticks At Home | Caleb Kraft | [
"chemistry hacks"
] | [] | [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tItOOpyJP5k]
Even if you have no interest in making these yourself, you might enjoy this educational
instructable about making your own glow sticks
. Comprised of a very short list of chemicals,
all available online
, the process is fairly simple. If you’re feeling like you want to take on a little more complicated chemistry project, you can also
make the TCPO component your self
, possibly saving some money as the individual components are cheaper than the final product. As they note, it is just cheaper and easier to buy a glow stick, unless you are making
mass quantities
. | 27 | 27 | [
{
"comment_id": "160065",
"author": "Alexander Rossie",
"timestamp": "2010-07-18T15:34:24",
"content": "I wish he’d elaborate on generates “energy”. Does he mean light outside of the visible spectrum? H+ , e-?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "160... | 1,760,377,405.061905 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2010/07/18/servo-controller-board/ | Servo Controller Board | Mike Szczys | [
"classic hacks"
] | [
"atmega328",
"AVR",
"controller",
"pic",
"servo"
] | This board is [Eric Seifert’s] venture into working with AVR microcontrollers. He has worked with PIC microcontrollers in the past and used the goal of
developing a servo controller board
as his motivation to try the grass on the other side of the fence. He found he likes the AVR line for its ease of development under Linux, a feature we also appreciate. What he ended up with is a tiny board that controls up to eight servo motors. If you’ve got
a project that is spilling over with servo-controlled limbs
, maybe this will save you some development time. | 17 | 17 | [
{
"comment_id": "160077",
"author": "Jake",
"timestamp": "2010-07-18T16:04:16",
"content": "Nice work, Eric!!! This is what I like to see.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "160079",
"author": "strider_mt2k",
"timestamp": "2010-07-18T16:15:... | 1,760,377,405.116956 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2010/07/17/lolos-perfect-moment-alarm-clock/ | Lolo’s (perfect Moment) Alarm Clock | Jakob Griffith | [
"Arduino Hacks",
"clock hacks"
] | [
"air quality",
"alarm clock",
"arduino",
"circuit diagram",
"dew point",
"humidity",
"perfect moment",
"sleep patter",
"source",
"temperature"
] | [youtube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CphsgESZGcE&feature=player_embedded%5D
It seems everybody has a different interpretation of the
perfect alarm clock
. [Loic Royer’s] alarm clock is not
the loudest
, or
the smartest
, but does have some interesting features. By monitoring several environmental factors like temperature, air quality, humidity, dew point, and your own sleep patterns, this alarm clock can determine the best moment in the morning to wake you up.
The main sensor is a wireless accelerometer with the theory being: the more you move in your sleep, the closer you are to a conscious state. The other sensors assist in picking the perfect moment, and awaken you with the sound of birds chirping.
For now all we have is the source code and the list of hardware, but for anyone wanting to try, a circuit diagram wouldn’t be too hard to figure out on your own. Check after the rift for some more videos.
Setting the clock:
[youtube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H51m5tOAKqQ&feature=player_embedded%5D
Different sensors:
[youtube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9OHXxB8jQfU&feature=player_embedded%5D
Wireless accelerometer:
[youtube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pKqmedNijh8&feature=player_embedded%5D | 20 | 20 | [
{
"comment_id": "159918",
"author": "biozz",
"timestamp": "2010-07-18T00:36:27",
"content": "very interesting project but for all that i think a bigger screen would be in order … maybe PSP screen sized and in color and very vibrant but this is a nice start",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
... | 1,760,377,405.379798 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2010/07/17/openwrt-on-a-seagate-freeagent-dockstar/ | OpenWRT On A Seagate FreeAgent Dockstar | Mike Szczys | [
"Peripherals Hacks"
] | [
"dockstar",
"freeagent",
"linux",
"openwrt",
"seagate",
"serial",
"ssh"
] | The Seagate FreeAgent Dockstar aims to make all of your stuff available online. It serves that purpose but sometimes you just want more options for controlling your hardware and running some scripts. [Eric Cooper] put together
a guide for installing OpenWRT on the Dockstar
by building your own kernel and loading it onto the internal storage. Once you have a kernel that will play nicely with the hardware, you can install it by tunneling in through SSH; the same method you would use if you wanted to
run Linux on this hardware
. If you have problems along the way, [Eric’s] also included a guide for cracking the Dockstar open and connecting a serial cable. | 50 | 50 | [
{
"comment_id": "159910",
"author": "Spork",
"timestamp": "2010-07-17T23:00:01",
"content": "That’s awesome, basically a cheap ($30 on amazon) file server/NAS box? Useful and cheap, just the way hackers like it!Bet you could just use a buspirate instead of a serial cable, too.",
"parent_id": nul... | 1,760,377,405.245515 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2010/07/17/rfid-cat-feeder-helps-with-the-diet/ | RFID Cat Feeder Helps With The Diet | Caleb Kraft | [
"home hacks",
"Robots Hacks"
] | [
"cat",
"feeder",
"food",
"rfid"
] | [vimeo=http://vimeo.com/10896151]
When faced with having 2 cats with different dietary needs, [Landmanr] had to decide between manually stopping the cat on a diet from eating normal food, or
building a dietary robot overlord
. [Landmanr] chose the robot route. Using an old cd rom for the opening/closing mechanism, and RFID to distinguish between felines, [Landmanr] no longer has to stand guard while each cat eats. We particularly like the design of the antenna, so that the cat has to stick its head through it to activate the food opening. You don’t see that version in the video, but it is in the instructable. | 29 | 29 | [
{
"comment_id": "159802",
"author": "Animal RN",
"timestamp": "2010-07-17T15:46:45",
"content": "very cool. you know the rest of us have to go out and buy products like that. Love it!",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "159815",
"author": "spy... | 1,760,377,405.574453 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2010/07/16/sega-genesis-cloned-with-an-fpga/ | SEGA Genesis Cloned With An FPGA | Mike Szczys | [
"classic hacks"
] | [
"Altera",
"de1",
"fpga",
"sega"
] | [Greg] managed to
clone a SEGA Genesis using a field programmable gate array
. He used a Terasic/Altera DE1 board, which will set you back about $160, during development. The onboard push buttons are currently used as the controller with VGA for the display. Who knows, maybe there’s enough programming space left to
drive a PSP screen
and turn this into a handheld?
You can see some gameplay footage after the break. If SEGA was never your thing don’t forget that there is an
NES FPGA hack
out there too.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ilzKiW21T9Y]
[Genesis
photo credit
]
[DE1
photo credit
] | 36 | 35 | [
{
"comment_id": "159551",
"author": "Jake",
"timestamp": "2010-07-16T20:09:56",
"content": "COOL!!!!",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "159561",
"author": "osgeld",
"timestamp": "2010-07-16T20:28:29",
"content": "Yea that’s pretty cool ... | 1,760,377,405.515709 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2010/07/16/neon-binary-clock/ | Neon Binary Clock | Mike Szczys | [
"clock hacks"
] | [
"ac",
"atmega328",
"high voltage",
"lamp",
"neon"
] | [Josiah] said ‘no’ to LEDs and instead used blue-phosphor
neon lamps to build this binary clock
. The ATmega328 inside uses three 8-bit shift registers to control the display. Each lamp needs a high-voltage NPN transistor in order to switch on the 150V necessary for proper illumination. A simple circuit was used to pull a 60 Hz clock signal out of the incoming 16VAC power. Unfortunately it was a bit too simple and didn’t provide a clean signal. [Josiah’s] workaround is something of a debounce subroutine in the firmware to prevent multiple interrupts on the falling edge.
The last project we saw from [Josiah] was the
Coachella Lamp
. That was a show piece of antiquated technology and this is another show piece with a minimalistic style. We also liked seeing the protoboard work on the inside. That’s a pretty jam-packed circuit board and keeping everything in the right place while you build up each trace with blobs of solder is no small feat. | 21 | 20 | [
{
"comment_id": "159534",
"author": "biozz",
"timestamp": "2010-07-16T19:14:04",
"content": "im surprised it took this longvery nice",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "159535",
"author": "Jake",
"timestamp": "2010-07-16T19:16:07",
"cont... | 1,760,377,405.437671 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2010/07/16/decapping-integrated-circuits-with-sap/ | Decapping Integrated Circuits With Sap | Mike Szczys | [
"chemistry hacks",
"classic hacks"
] | [
"chip",
"nitric acid",
"reverse engineer",
"rosin"
] | [James] is interested in
reverse engineering some integrated circuits
. One of the biggest hurdles in this process has always been just getting to the guts of the chip. He used acetone to dissolve the plastic case but had trouble getting through the epoxy blob. Commonly,
the epoxy is soaked in nitric acid
for a few minutes but [James] didn’t have access to that chemical. Instead he popped into the local music store and picked up some rosin (used to make violin bows sticky enough to grab the strings of the instrument). After boiling down the rock-hard rosin and the chip for 20 minutes, he got a clean and relatively undamaged semiconductor that he can easily peer into. | 26 | 26 | [
{
"comment_id": "159501",
"author": "cpmike",
"timestamp": "2010-07-16T17:46:38",
"content": "To what end, curiousity? Can a chip really be analyzed visually like this, to make any determination as to its function? I would imagine that it can’t help much more than normal creative testing of the ex... | 1,760,377,405.642753 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2010/07/16/cnc-build-ditches-rods-for-hardboard/ | CNC Build Ditches Rods For Hardboard | Mike Szczys | [
"cnc hacks"
] | [
"hardboard",
"rack and pinion",
"reprap",
"selective laser sintering",
"sls"
] | This is
a redesigned x-axis
for [Peter Jansen’s] selective laser sintering rig. We looked in on
his SLS project
last month and since then he’s been refining the design. The new component uses a rack and pinion system, relying on some Kapton tape to reduce friction for a nice smooth slide. One stepper motor powers the laser-cut gear box with four gears interfacing the sled to the frame for stable and accurate motion. Now he’s just got to work out the math/physics that go into finding the optimal gear ratios as this prototype is just a rough guess. If you’ve got the skills to work it out please lend [Peter] a hand as we’re quite excited with where this is going. | 29 | 28 | [
{
"comment_id": "159440",
"author": "Moggie100",
"timestamp": "2010-07-16T15:12:27",
"content": "I can’t help but wonder how accurate that is… A while back there was a post on this very site covering the use of a hinged linkage as a replacement for precision rods (wish I could remember its name).I c... | 1,760,377,405.708783 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2010/07/16/general-purpose-robot-remote/ | General Purpose Robot Remote | Caleb Kraft | [
"Robots Hacks"
] | [
"remote",
"robot"
] | [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uuwb3fn51r4]
[theGrue] has posted his
Robot remote control project
for us to gawk at. This box o’ buttons is a parallax propeller brain with some Xbee units for communication. Though it was designed to work with
TOBI
, his tool carrying robot, he made it so that he could control a multitude of robots with it by flipping some switches on the front of the remote.
[via
Hacked Gadgets
] | 10 | 10 | [
{
"comment_id": "159423",
"author": "biqut2",
"timestamp": "2010-07-16T14:14:24",
"content": "really like the idea of having it work for multiple bots",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "159424",
"author": "McSteve",
"timestamp": "2010-07-16... | 1,760,377,405.754354 |
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