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https://hackaday.com/2023/05/04/beaglestamp-makes-soldering-linux-into-your-projects-easier/ | BeagleStamp Makes Soldering Linux Into Your Projects Easier | Navarre Bartz | [
"hardware",
"Microcontrollers"
] | [
"Beagle",
"beagleboard",
"BeagleStamp",
"Embedded Linux",
"linux",
"PocketBeagle",
"smd module"
] | There are a lot of things you can do with today’s powerful microcontrollers, but sometimes you really need a full embedded Linux setup. [Dylan Brophy] wanted to make it easier to add Linux to his own projects and designed
the BeagleStamp
.
Squeezed onto a 1″ square, the BeagleStamp puts the power of a PocketBeagle into an easy to solder module you can add to a project without all that tedious mucking about with individually soldering all the components of a tiny Linux computer every time. As a bonus, the 4 layer connections are constrained to the stamp as well, so you can use lower layer count boards in your project and have your Linux too.
The first run of boards was delivered with many of the pins unplated, but [Brophy] plans to work around it for the time being so he can spot any other bugs before the next board revision. Might we suggest a future version
using RISC-V
? | 44 | 11 | [
{
"comment_id": "6638932",
"author": "Frieder",
"timestamp": "2023-05-04T15:47:15",
"content": "Ok, I have seen SoMs and SiPs, but I think it’s the first SiP on a SoM I’ve come across.By the way, there’s a joined effort from multiple vendors to create an “open” standard for similar solderable module... | 1,760,372,311.641259 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2023/05/04/virgin-galactic-cautiously-returns-to-flight/ | Virgin Galactic Cautiously Returns To Flight | Tom Nardi | [
"Current Events",
"Featured",
"News",
"Space"
] | [
"space tourism",
"spaceplane",
"suborbital",
"Virgin Galactic"
] | After Richard Branson delivered some inspiring words from his seat aboard SpaceShipTwo
Unity
, he unbuckled himself and started to float around the vehicle’s cabin along with three other Virgin Galactic employees. Reaching an apogee of 86 kilometers (53 miles), the passengers enjoyed four minutes of weightlessness during the July 2021 flight that was live-streamed over the Internet to an audience of millions. After years of delays, SpaceShipTwo had finally demonstrated it was capable of taking paying customers to the edge of space. As far as victories go — it was pretty impressive.
Yet despite the spectacle, weeks and months went by without an announcement about when commercial flights of the world’s first “spaceline” would finally begin. Now, nearly two years after Branson’s flight,
Unity
has flown again
. Except instead of carrying the first group of customers, it performed the sort of un-powered test flight that Virgin Galactic hasn’t performed since 2017. Clearly, something didn’t go to plan back then.
Richard Branson aboard
Unity
The company is being as tight-lipped as ever, saying only that this test flight was necessary to “evaluate the performance of the spaceship…following the modification period.” The exact nature of these modifications is unclear, but for some hints, we could
look at the
New Yorker
article from September 2021
. It alleged that, unwilling to derail Branson’s highly publicized flight,
Unity’s
pilots decided not to abort their ascent despite several warning lights in the cockpit alerting them that the vehicle’s trajectory was deviating from the norm. Virgin Galactic later denied their characterization of the event, but the fact remains that
Unity
did leave its designated airspace during the flight, and that the
Federal Aviation Administration grounded the spacecraft
until an investigation into the mishap could be completed.
The FAA cleared Virgin Galactic to resume flights shortly after, but by December, they had new problems. Investors decided to pursue legal action against the company, claiming that
Unity
and her sister ship
Eve
were closer to proof-of-concept prototypes than the commercially sustainable vehicles they were lead to believe.
According to an article by
The Guardian
, a Virgin Galactic engineer was even on record saying that wings of the vehicles were covered with so many stress fractures that they looked like “cracked eggshells” on close inspection.
By this point,
Virgin Galactic had already announced
their fleet would enter into an “extended maintenance period” to address a “possible reduction in the strength margins of certain materials.” At the time the company said it expected this period to last until Q4 of 2022, after which they would kick off the start of commercial service with a research mission paid for by the Italian Air Force. Obviously those dates slipped, with the most recent official statements indicating they hope to fly the Italian Air Force’s mission in Q2 of this year.
Wreckage of Virgin Galactic’s
Enterprise
in 2014.
It’s not hard to imagine that the issues found during and immediately after Branson’s July 2021 flight required more time than anticipated to address. Even still, the modifications will only be a stopgap. The company has previously admitted that the current version of their spacecraft won’t be able to hit the flight cadence necessary for long-term commercial service, and that a more capable variant of the spaceplane will need to be developed if they are going to achieve weekly flights.
We’ve reported previously on
Virgin Galactic’s slow and painful progress
towards commercial service. The company has gone through years of delays, several redesigns, and the tragic loss of one of its test pilots in 2014 to get where they are now. In many ways, it’s remarkable they’ve managed to keep pushing ahead as long as they have. It’s still unclear if there’s a viable future for this sort of suborbital space tourism, but with the blood and tears it’s taken to get them this far, we’d say Virgin Galactic deserves to give it a shot. | 32 | 10 | [
{
"comment_id": "6638910",
"author": "Artenz",
"timestamp": "2023-05-04T14:30:52",
"content": "Richard Branson is willing to invest a lot of money & energy in his glorified rollercoaster ride.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "6638911",
... | 1,760,372,311.788862 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2023/05/06/how-to-model-a-twisted-part-in-freecad/ | How To Model A Twisted Part In FreeCAD | Donald Papp | [
"how-to"
] | [
"cad",
"curves",
"design",
"freecad",
"Twist"
] | Quick references are handy, but sometimes it’s nice to have a process demonstrated from beginning to end. In that spirit, [Darren Stone] created a video demonstrating
how to model a twisted part in FreeCAD
, showing the entire workflow of creating the part as a blend of surfaces and curves that get turned into a solid.
FreeCAD is organized using the concept of multiple “workbenches” which are each optimized for different tools and operations, and [Darren] walks through doing the same jobs in a few different ways.
This twisted bracket is a simple part that is nevertheless nontrivial from a CAD perspective, and that makes it a good candidate for showing off the different workbenches and tools.
The video below is also pretty good overall demonstration of what designing a part from a mechanical drawing looks like when done in FreeCAD. As for mechanical drawings themselves, we’ve seen
FreeCAD can be used to make those, too
. | 84 | 14 | [
{
"comment_id": "6639561",
"author": "Dude",
"timestamp": "2023-05-06T12:07:36",
"content": "Compare:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KrdI7G2k50g",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "6639638",
"author": "DOugl",
"timestamp": "2023-05... | 1,760,372,312.130451 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2023/05/06/inside-a-pair-of-smart-sunglasses/ | Inside A Pair Of Smart Sunglasses | Bryan Cockfield | [
"Teardown",
"Wearable Hacks"
] | [
"battery",
"camera",
"glasses",
"mobile",
"ray-ban",
"Snapdragon",
"sunglasses",
"video",
"wearable"
] | If you’re willing to spend $200 USD on nothing more than 100 grams of plastic, there are a few trendy sunglasses brands that are ready to take your money before you have time to think twice. Sure, you can get a pair of sunglasses for an order of magnitude less money that do the exact same job, but the real value is in the brand stamped into the plastic and not necessarily the sunglasses themselves. Not so with this pair of Ray-Bans, though. Unlike most of their offerings, these contain a little bit more than a few bits of stylish plastic and
[Becky Stern] is here to show us what’s hidden inside
.
At first glance, the glasses don’t seem to be anything other than a normal pair of sunglasses, if a bit bulky But on closer inspection they hide a pair of cameras and a few other bits of electronics similar to the Google Glass, but much more subtle. The teardown demonstrates that these are not intended to be user-repairable devices, and might not be repairable at all, as even removing the hinges broke the flexible PCBs behind them. A rotary tool was needed to remove the circuit boards from the ear pieces, and a bench vice to remove the camera modules from the front frame. We can presume these glasses will not be put back together after this process.
Hidden away inside is a pair of cameras, a Snapdragon quad-core processor, capacitive touch sensors, an amplifier for a set of speakers. Mostly this is to support the recording of video and playback of audio, and not any sort of augmented reality system like Google Glass attempted to create. There are some concerning ties with Facebook associated with this product as well which will be a red flag for plenty of us around here, but besides the privacy issues, lack of repairability, and lack of features, we’d describe it as marginally less useful as an entry-level smartwatch. Of course, Google Glass had its own set of privacy-related issues too,
which we saw some clever projects solve in unique ways
. | 14 | 5 | [
{
"comment_id": "6639522",
"author": "Leano",
"timestamp": "2023-05-06T08:37:39",
"content": "At £150, they’re certainly not cheap, but I’ve never found any other lens that even comes close to correcting my red/green colour deficiency as the “bronze HCL” lenses do from Maui Jim. They weigh 10g, don’... | 1,760,372,311.965253 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2023/05/05/a-dedicated-gpu-for-your-favorite-sbc/ | A Dedicated GPU For Your Favorite SBC | Bryan Cockfield | [
"Raspberry Pi"
] | [
"32-bit",
"amd",
"compute module",
"dedicated graphics",
"drivers",
"graphics card",
"interface",
"NVIDIA",
"pci",
"rasberry pi"
] | The Raspberry Pi is famous for its low cost, versatile and open Linux environment, and plentiful I/O, making it a perfect device not only for its originally-intended educational purposes but for basically every hobbyist from gardeners to roboticists to amateur radio operators. Most builds tend to make use of the GPIO pins which allow easy connections to various peripherals and sensors, but the Pi also supports PCI devices which means that, in theory, it could use a GPU in much the same way that a modern computer would. After plenty of testing and development, [Jeff Geerling] brings us
this custom graphics card interface for the Raspberry Pi
.
The testing for
all of these graphics cards
has been done with a Pi Compute Module 4 and the end result is an interface device which looks much like a graphics card itself. It splits the PCI bus out onto a more familiar x16 slot connector and adds physical connections for power, USB, and Ethernet. When plugged into the carrier board, the Compute Module can be attached to any of a number of graphics cards, including the latest and highest-end of Nvidia and AMD offerings.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, though, the 4090 and 7900 cards don’t work with the Raspberry Pi. This is partially due to the 32-bit limitations of the Pi and other memory mapping issues, but even after attempting some workarounds Nvidia’s cards aren’t open-source enough to test properly (although the card is recognized by the Pi) and AMD’s drivers crash the system even after compiling a custom kernel. [Jeff] did find an Nvidia card that worked, although it requires using the USB interface and second-hand cards are selling for around $3000 USD. For a more economical choice there are some other graphics cards that he was eventually able to get working, albeit not with perfect performance,
including some of the ones we’ve seen him test already
. | 35 | 5 | [
{
"comment_id": "6639501",
"author": "Manfred",
"timestamp": "2023-05-06T06:05:28",
"content": "But why a PCIe card?A microitx baseboard for the cm4 would have been much more useful.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "6639507",
"author": "Speci... | 1,760,372,311.551777 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2023/05/05/leaked-internal-google-document-claims-open-source-ai-will-outcompete-google-and-openai/ | Leaked Internal Google Document Claims Open Source AI Will Outcompete Google And OpenAI | Maya Posch | [
"News",
"Software Development"
] | [
"large language model",
"LLM",
"open source"
] | In the world of large language models (LLM), the focus has for the longest time been on proprietary technologies from companies such as OpenAI (GPT-3 & 4, ChatGPT, etc.) as well as increasingly everyone from Google to Meta and Microsoft. What’s remained underexposed in this whole discussion about which LLM will do more things better are the efforts by hobbyists, unaffiliated researchers and everyone else you may find in Open Source LLM projects. According to
a leaked document
from a researcher at Google (anonymous, but apparently verified), Google is very worried that Open Source LLMs will wipe the floor with both Google’s and OpenAI’s efforts.
According to the document, after the open source community got their hands on the leaked LLaMA foundation model, motivated and highly knowledgeable individuals set to work to take a fairly basic model to new levels where it could begin to compete with the offerings by OpenAI and Google. Major innovations are the scaling issues, allowing these LLMs to work on far less powerful systems (like a laptop or even smartphone).
An important factor here is
Low-Rank adaptation
(LoRa), which massively cuts down the effort and resources required to train a model. Ultimately, as this document phrases it, Google and in extension OpenAI do not have a ‘secret sauce’ that makes their approaches better than anything the wider community can come up with. Noted is also that essentially Meta has won out here by having their LLM leak, as it has meant that the OSS community has been improving on the Meta foundations, allowing Meta to benefit from those improvements in their products.
The dire prediction is thus that in the end the proprietary LLMs by Google, OpenAI and others will cease to be relevant, as the open source community will have steamrolled them into fine, digital dust. Whether this will indeed work out this way remains to be seen, but things are not looking up for proprietary LLMs.
(Thanks to [Mike Szczys] for the tip) | 37 | 19 | [
{
"comment_id": "6639474",
"author": "Ostracus",
"timestamp": "2023-05-06T02:10:12",
"content": "Seems to me though the big names have bigger data pools to draw upon (even if they end up paying for some of them), and people financially incentivized to curate the output for biases and other problem i... | 1,760,372,311.718017 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2023/05/05/holograms-display-time-with-esp32/ | Holograms Display Time With ESP32 | Bryan Cockfield | [
"clock hacks"
] | [
"3d",
"beam splitter",
"clock",
"ESP32",
"gcode",
"hologram",
"microcontroller",
"model",
"prism"
] | Holograms and holographic imagery are typically viewed within the frame of science fiction, with perhaps the most iconic examples being Princess Leia’s message to Obi-Wan in
Star Wars,
or the holodecks from
Star Trek.
In reality, holograms have been around for a surprising amount of time, with early holographic images being produced in the late 1940s. There are plenty of uses outside of imagery for modern holographic systems as well, and it’s a common enough technology that
it’s possible to construct one using an ESP32 as well
.
In this build, [Fiberpunk] demonstrates the construction and operation of a holographic clock. The image is three-dimensional and somewhat transparent and is driven by an ESP32 microcontroller. The display is based around a beamsplitter prism which, when viewed from the front, is almost completely invisible to the viewer. The ESP32 is housed in a casing beneath this prism, and [Fiberpunk] has two firmware versions available for the device. The first is the clock which displays an image as well as the time, and the second is more of a demonstration which can show more in-depth 3D videos using gcode models and also has motion sensing controls.
For anyone interested in holography, a platform like this is might make an excellent entry point to explore, and with
the source for this build available
becomes even easier. It’s almost certainly less expensive than
these 3D printers
that can turn out custom holographic images, and has the added benefit of being customizable and programmable as well. | 30 | 12 | [
{
"comment_id": "6639456",
"author": "Gary",
"timestamp": "2023-05-05T23:51:36",
"content": "While a neat project, this is neither a hologram nor 3D. Any claim otherwise is downright misleading. It’s a Pepper’s Ghost illusion (a totally flat image), which is not a true hologram. This is [hackaday... | 1,760,372,311.473666 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2023/05/05/tactical-build-makes-machining-splined-shaft-a-snap/ | Tactical Build Makes Machining Splined Shaft A Snap | Dan Maloney | [
"Tool Hacks"
] | [
"dividing head",
"machining",
"milling machine",
"rotary table",
"rp2040",
"shaft",
"spline",
"stepper"
] | Quick, what’s 360 divided by 23? It’s easy enough to get the answer, of course, but if you need to machine a feature every 15.652 degrees around a shaft, how exactly would you accomplish that? There are a number of ways, but they all involve some degree of machining wizardry. Or, you can just make the problem go away with a little automation.
The story behind [Tony Goacher]’s
Rotary Table Buddy
begins with some ATV tracks he got off AliExpress. His idea is to build a specialty electric vehicle for next year’s EMF Camp. The tracks require a splined shaft to drive them, which would need to be custom-made on a milling machine. A rotary table with a dividing plate — not as fancy as
this one
, of course –is usually the answer, but [Tony] was a little worried about getting everything set up correctly, so he embarked on a tactical automation solution to the problem.
An RP2040 provided the brains of the project, while a NEMA 23 stepper provides the brawn. [Tony] whipped up a quick PCB and 3D printed a case for the microcontroller, a stepper driver, an LCD display, and a few buttons. He 3D printed an adapter and a shaft coupler to mount the stepper motor to a rotary table. From there it was just a matter of coming up with a bit of code to run everything.
There’s a brief video in [Tony]’s blog post that shows Rotary Table Buddy in action, indexing to the next position after cutting one of the 23 splines. He says it took about ten minutes to cut each spline using this setup, which probably makes to total cutting time far less than the amount of time invested in the tool. But that’s hardly the point, and besides, now he’s set up for all kinds of machining operations in the future.
And we sure hope we hear about the EMF Camp build, too. | 9 | 3 | [
{
"comment_id": "6639427",
"author": "Michael K Johnson",
"timestamp": "2023-05-05T21:28:51",
"content": "Here’s another one also worth looking at for anyone contemplating building something similar:https://www.worldofward.com/It’s by the same person who has done a lot of firmware development for th... | 1,760,372,312.009065 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2023/05/05/op-amp-challenge-light-up-breadboard-shows-us-the-signals/ | Op-Amp Challenge: Light Up Breadboard Shows Us The Signals | Jenny List | [
"contests",
"hardware"
] | [
"breadboard",
"led",
"logic analyzer",
"Op Amp Challenge"
] | Most Hackaday readers will no doubt at some point used a solderless breadboard for prototyping. They do the job, but sometimes their layout can be inflexible and keeping track of signals can be a pain. There’s a neat idea from [rasmusviil0] which might go some way to making the humble breadboard easier to use,
it’s a breadboard in which each line is coupled via an op-amp buffer to an LED
. In this way it can be seen at a glance some indication of the DC voltage present.
It’s an idea reminiscent of those simple logic probes which were popular years ago, but its implementation is not entirely easy. Each circuit is simple enough, but to replicate it across all the lines in a breadboard makes for a huge amount of quad op-amp chips stuffed onto one piece of stripboard as well as a veritable forest of wires beneath the board.
The effect is of a breadboard crossed with a set of blinkenlights, and we could see that for simple digital circuits it could have some utility if not so much for higher frequency or analogue signals. Certainly it’s an experiment worth doing, and indeed
it’s not the first tricked out breadboard we’ve seen
. | 5 | 4 | [
{
"comment_id": "6639392",
"author": "smellsofbikes",
"timestamp": "2023-05-05T19:21:28",
"content": "If you set up the op amp as a unity gain buffer, I think it could be quite useful for analog signals.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "6639452... | 1,760,372,311.915956 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2023/05/03/nasas-voyager-space-probes-reserve-power-and-the-intricacies-of-rtg-based-power-systems/ | NASA’s Voyager Space Probe’s Reserve Power, And The Intricacies Of RTG-Based Power Systems | Maya Posch | [
"Hackaday Columns",
"Science",
"Slider",
"Space"
] | [
"radioisotope thermoelectric generator",
"RTG",
"Voyager 2"
] | Launched in 1977, the Voyager 1 and 2 space probes have been operating non-stop for over 45 years, making their way from Earth to our solar system’s outer planets and beyond. Courtesy of the radioisotope thermoelectric generators (RTGs) which provided 470 W at launch, they are able to function in the darkness of Deep Space as well as they did within the confines of our Sun-lit solar system. Yet as nothing in the Universe is really infinite, so too do these RTGs wear out over time, both from natural decay of their radioactive source and from the degradation of the thermocouples.
Despite this gradual drop in power, NASA
recently announced
that Voyager 2 has a hitherto seemingly unknown source of reserve power that will postpone the shutdown of more science instruments for a few more years. The change essentially bypasses a voltage regulator circuit and associated backup power system, freeing up the power consumed by this for the scientific instruments which would otherwise have begun to shut down years sooner.
While this is good news in itself, it’s also noteworthy because the Voyager’s 45+ year old Multi-Hundred Watt (MHW) RTGs are the predecessor to the RTGs that are still powering the New Horizons probe after 17 years, and the Mars Science Laboratory (Curiosity) for over 10 years, showing the value of RTGs in long-term exploration missions.
Although the basic principle behind an RTG is quite simple, their design has changed significantly since the US put a SNAP-3 RTG on the
Transit
4B satellite in 1961.
Need For Power
Apollo astronaut photo of a SNAP-27 RTG on the Moon. (Credit NASA)
Even on Earth it can be tough to find a reliable source of power that will last for years or even decades, which is why NASA’s Systems for Nuclear Auxiliary Power (
SNAP
) development program produced RTGs intended for both terrestrial and space-based use, with the SNAP-3 being the first to make it to space. This specific RTG produced a mere 2.5 W, and the satellites also had solar panels and NiCd batteries. But as a space-based RTG test bed, SNAP-3 laid the groundwork for successive NASA missions.
The SNAP-19 provided the power (~30 W per RTG) for the Viking 1 and 2 landers, as well as Pioneer 10 and 11. Five SNAP-27 units provided the power for the Apollo Lunar Surface Experiments Packages (
ALSEP
) that were left on the Moon by the Apollo 12, 14, 15, 16, and 17 astronauts. Each SNAP-27 unit provided approximately 75 W at 30 VDC of power from its 3.8 kg plutonium-238 fuel rod that was rated for 1,250 W thermally. After ten years, a SNAP-27 still produces over 90% of its rated electrical power, allowing each ALSEP to transmit data on moonquakes and other information recorded by its instruments for as long as the power budget allows.
By the time the Apollo project’s support operations were wound down in 1977, the ALSEPs were left with only their transmitters turned on. Apollo 13’s SNAP-27 unit (attached to the outside of the lunar module) made a re-entry to Earth, where it still lies – intact – at the bottom of the Tonga Trench in the Pacific Ocean.
The relative inefficiency of RTGs was readily apparent even back then, with the
SNAP-10A
experiment demonstrating a compact 500 W fission reactor in an ion-drive satellite that readily outperformed the SNAP RTGs. Although much more powerful per unit volume and nuclear fuel, thermocouple-based RTGs do have the advantage of absolutely zero moving parts and only passive cooling requirements. This allows for them to be literally stuck on a space probe, satellite or vehicle with thermal radiation and/or convection providing the cold side for the
thermocouple
.
These thermocouples employ the
Seebeck effect
, the Peltier effect in reverse, to turn the thermal gradient between two dissimilar electrically conductive materials into essentially a generator. Much of the challenge with thermocouple-based RTGs has been to find the most efficient and durable composition. Although Rankine-, Brayton- and Stirling-cycle RTGs have also been experimented with, these have the distinct disadvantage of moving mechanical parts, requiring seals and lubrication.
When considering the 45+ year lifespan of the Voyager
MHW-RTGs
with their relatively ancient silicon-germanium (SiGe) thermocouples, the disadvantages of adding mechanical components should be obvious. Especially when considering the MHW RTG two generations of successors so far.
Not Your 1970s RTG
While Voyager’s MHW-RTG was developed specifically for the mission by NASA, its successor, the creatively titled
general-purpose heat source
(
GPHS
) RTG, was designed by General Electric’s Space Division and subsequently used on the Ulysses (1990 – 2009), Galileo (1989 – 2003), Cassini-Huygens (1997 – 2017) and New Horizons (2006 – ) missions. Each GPHS-RTG produces about 300 W of electrical power from 4,400 W thermal, using still similar silicon-germanium thermocouples.
An interesting sidenote here is that even the solar-powered Mars rovers include a radioisotope unit, although in the form of a radioisotope heater unit (
RHU
), with the
Sojourner Rover
having three of these RHUs, and
Spirit & Opportunity
eight RHUs each. These RHUs provide a constant source of heat that allows scarce electricity from solar panels and batteries to be used for duties other than running heaters.
The GPHS module provides steady heat for a radioisotope power system. (Credit: NASA)
Meanwhile, the currently active Mars rovers,
Curiosity
and its twin Perseverance, get both electrical power and heat from a single
multi-mission radioisotope thermoelectric generator
(
MMRTG
) unit. These RTGs use PbTe/TAGS thermoelectric couples, meaning lead/tellurium alloy for one side and tellurium (Te), silver (Ag), germanium (Ge) and antimony (Sb) for the other side of the couple. The MMRTG is rated for a lifespan of up to 17 years, but is likely to outperform its design specifications by a considerable margin like the MHW-RTGs and others have. The Pu-238 fuel with an MMRTG is contained in General Purpose Heat Source (GPHS) modules, which serve to protect the fuel from damage.
The main
failure mode
of the SiGe thermocouples was migration of the germanium over time, which causes sublimation. This was prevented in later designs by coating the SiGe thermocouples with silicon nitride. The PbTe/TAGS thermocouples should provide further stability in this regard, and the MMRTGs in Curiosity and Perseverance have served as real-world duration tests.
A Matter Of Fuel
The Voyager 1 and 2 probes are well out of reach for a big service and maintenance session, so NASA had to get creative to optimize power usage. Although the backup power circuit was perhaps considered a necessity back in the 1970s in case there were power fluctuations from any of the three RTGs on each space probe, there is enough real-life monitoring data to support the suggestion that it may be superfluous, barring alien influences.
With the nearly 46 years of data from the Voyager RTGs, we can see now that thermocouple stability is essential to maintain a constant power output, with the decay of the
plutonium-238
fuel source significantly easier to model and predict. Now that with the MMRTG units we should have addressed many of the issues that caused degradation of the thermocouples over time. The only missing ingredient is the Pu-238 fuel.
Most of the Pu-238 that the US had originally came from the Savannah River Site (
SRS
) before this facility and its special reactors was shutdown in 1988. After this the US would import Pu-238 from Russia before the latter’s stocks would also begin to run low, leading to the awkward position of the US running out of what is one of the best radioactive isotopes to use in RTGs for long-duration missions. With a short half-life of 87.7 years and only alpha decay, Pu-238 is both rather benign to surrounding materials, while providing significant amounts of thermal power.
With only enough Pu-238 left for the two MMRTGs in the current Mars rovers and two more after these, the US has
now restarted
Pu-238 production. Although Pu-238 can be created via a few different ways, the preferred way appears to be to use stockpiled neptunium-237 and expose it to neutrons in fission reactors or similar neutron sources, to generate Pu-238 via neutron capture. According to NASA, about 1.5 kg of Pu-238 per year should be enough to satisfy demand for future space missions.
A Tiny Spacecraft In The Dark
Voyager 1
is currently at a distance of 159.14 AU (23.807 billion km) from Earth, and
Voyager 2
is only marginally closer at 133.03 AU from Earth. As a project that has its roots in the Space Race and has ended up outliving not only many of its creators, but also the geopolitics of the time, it is perhaps one of the few human-made constants with which we can all identify in some fashion.
As
carriers of the golden discs
that contain the essence of humanity, extending the life of these spacecraft goes beyond merely the science they can perform, out in the darkness of Deep Space. With every year extra we may learn a bit more and see a bit more of what awaits humanity beyond the reaches of this rather ordinary, out of the way solar system. | 46 | 11 | [
{
"comment_id": "6638652",
"author": "Manfred",
"timestamp": "2023-05-03T18:08:28",
"content": "Never read a technical article that was as vague as this one!What have they done?Bypassed a voltage regulator to avoid it’s losses?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
... | 1,760,372,311.878309 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2023/05/03/exploring-woodworking-mysteries-with-strain-gauges-and-raspberry-pi/ | Exploring Woodworking Mysteries With Strain Gauges And Raspberry Pi | Dan Maloney | [
"Tool Hacks"
] | [
"cherry",
"clamping",
"force",
"glue",
"hx711",
"joint",
"maple",
"oak",
"Pine",
"pressure",
"rule of thumb",
"strain gauge",
"wood"
] | If you’re not a woodworker, you might not have heard of the “45-degree rule.” It goes like this: a clamp exerts a force that radiates out across a triangular region of the wood that forms a right angle — 45 degrees on each side of the clamp’s point of contact. So, to ensure that force is applied as evenly as possible across the entire glue joint, clamps should be spaced so that these force triangles overlap. It’s a handy rule, especially for the woodworker looking to justify the purchase of more clamps; you can never have too many clamps. But is it valid?
Myth busted?
The short answer that [ari kardasis] comes up with in
the video below
is… sort of. With the help of a wonderfully complex array of strain gauges and a Raspberry Pi, he found that the story isn’t so simple. Each strain gauge lives in a 3D printed bracket that spaces the sensors evenly along the wood under test, with a lot of work going into making the test setup as stiff as possible with steel reinforcement. There were some problems with a few strain gauges, but once he sorted that out, the test setup went into action.
[ari] tested clamping force transmission through pieces of wood of various widths, using both hardwoods and softwoods. In general, he found that the force pattern is much broader than the 45-degree rule suggests — he got over 60 degrees in some cases. Softwoods seemed to have a somewhat more acute pattern than hardwoods, but still greater than the rulebook says. At the end of the day, it seems like clamp spacing of two board widths will suffice for hardwoods, while 1.5 or so will do for softwoods. Either way, that means fewer clamps are needed.
A lot of woodworking is seat-of-the-pants stuff, so it’s nice to see a more rigorous analysis like this. It reminds us a lot of some of the experiments [Matthia Wandel] has done, like load testing various types of
woods
and
glues
. | 19 | 7 | [
{
"comment_id": "6638612",
"author": "cliff claven",
"timestamp": "2023-05-03T15:51:37",
"content": "Nice video. Thanks for sharing it. The 45degree rule is pretty common outside of woodworking, as well. When disturbing consolidated soil near a foundation to avoid loss of support, the undisturbed so... | 1,760,372,312.288188 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2023/05/03/barcodes-enter-the-matrix-in-2027/ | Barcodes Enter The Matrix In 2027 | Kristina Panos | [
"Art",
"Current Events",
"Featured",
"Interest",
"Original Art",
"Slider"
] | [
"2D bar code",
"bar code",
"barcode",
"POS",
"qr code",
"retail"
] | Beep. We’ve come a long way since June 26, 1974 when the first bar code was scanned at a grocery store in Troy, Ohio. That legendary pack of Juicy Fruit proved that even the smallest of items could now carry numbers associated with inventory and price.
By now, we’re all too familiar with this sound as self-checkouts have become the norm. Whereas you yourself could at one time literally check out during the transaction, you must now be on your toes and play find the bar code on every item.
What does the consumer gain from the bar code today? Practically nothing, except the chance to purchase, and potentially return, the item without too much hassle. Well, the non-profit outfit that runs the bar code world —
GS1 US
— wants to change all that.
By 2027, they are confident that all 1D bar codes will be replaced with 2D bar codes similar to QR codes
. Why?
Sunrise, Sunset: 2027
In a worldwide initiative called
Sunrise 2027
, the entire retail industry will sunset 12-digit barcodes and use a 2D web-enabled version going forward. The new 2D barcodes can store much more information than the lowly 1D version, which has the potential to benefit both consumers and store owners.
The 2D barcode will “take you on an experience that the brand wants you to have.”
— Carrie Wilkie, SVP of standards and technology at GS1 US
Should the consumer be so inclined, they’ll be able to access a wealth of information about the product using the new barcode — everything from an ingredients list to recipes, potential allergens, promotions, and recycling information for the container.
The barcodes will open the doors for extras like loyalty points, coupons, games, you name it. And just think — clothes and other textiles could finally have legible washing instructions, so we don’t have to rely on those ancient glyphs.
Stores will be able to respond much faster to product recalls and even do things like flag foods that are approaching the sell-by date so they can pull them and sell them at a discount. They also expect major improvements when it comes to inventory control on the back end.
A Brief History of Barcodes
Barcodes were created to remove the human element of logistics, or at least lessen the burden. The
history of the barcode
begins almost 100 years ago with a system to keep track of railroad cars.
In the 1930s, a group of Westinghouse engineers invented an automated card sorting system that used bars printed on paper. These bars were read by a photo-electric cell, which ultimately decided which trap door that particular piece of paper would fall through to be sorted.
The first barcodes that resemble what we see today came about in the 1940s as a way to speed up the process at the grocery store checkout. Graduate student Bernard Silver and his friend Norman Woodland created a bar code system that used Morse code, but lengthened the dots and dashes vertically to form bars.
Although they came up with a way of reading the barcodes and even got IBM interested in the idea in the early 1950s, it was ultimately decided that the technology to make it all work just wasn’t there yet.
The solution came in the 1960s when George Laurer was assigned the task at Research Triangle Park. His team created the UPC — a bar code that is essentially the one we all know and love today — and which is about to be phased out.
By now, we’re also all familiar with QR codes, but did you know that they’re almost 30 years old? Quick Response codes were created in 1994 by Japanese company
Denso Wave
to keep track of cars and parts in the auto industry. By adding a second dimension, much more data can be stored, with checksums and redundancy to boot.
2D Or Not 2D
Between now and 2027, we’ll likely see a long period of transition wherein products have both types of barcodes. In the meantime, GS1 US has released a barcode capabilities kit so that retailers can evaluate their POS systems. They’ve also issued a
Getting Started guide
(PDF) that essentially amounts to a) evaluate readiness by scanning a large number of example barcodes and b) upgrade POS system if it doesn’t pass 2D muster.
According to the press release, early testing indicated that scanning 2D barcodes and reading/ingesting the data are two different things, which presents another wrinkle.
Already In the Matrix
But the change is already happening. The first company to use 2D barcodes in US stores is Puma. For now, the barcode goes to a link that tells all about Puma’s sustainability efforts and what materials are in that pair of shoes.
Those touch screen Coke machines that have taken over fast food places in the last decade or so? Those now feature a QR code that lets you concoct your beverage from your phone so you don’t have to touch that screen.
In the rest of the world, Australia and New Zealand are using 2D barcodes to provide freshness data for deli and meat counter products. And a retailer in Japan is already using 2D barcodes to give discounts on demand for foods with three or fewer days of shelf life remaining.
While this transition could slow things down for a good long while, it sounds like we’ll be better for it in the long run. At least most people don’t stand there and write a check anymore. | 80 | 20 | [
{
"comment_id": "6638581",
"author": "willmore",
"timestamp": "2023-05-03T14:55:26",
"content": "To be “take[en] you on an experience that the brand wants you to have.” is pretty much the last thing I would ever want. This seems like a signifigant downgrade.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,... | 1,760,372,312.403559 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2023/05/03/moon-mission-failures-or-why-are-lunar-landings-so-hard/ | Moon Mission Failures, Or Why Are Lunar Landings So Hard? | Maya Posch | [
"Science",
"Space"
] | [
"moon",
"Moon landing"
] | Given the number of spacecraft (both crewed and uncrewed) that touched down on the Moon during the Space Race it’s sometimes hard to imagine why today, with all our modern technology, our remotely operated vehicles seem to have so much trouble not smashing themselves to bits on the regolith surface.
This is the focus of a recent article
in
Nature
that explores the aspects which still make soft landings on our closest space body so much harder than the tragic lithobraking as
most recently demonstrated by ispace’s M1 lander
.
So far only three entities have successfully landed a craft on the Moon’s surface: the government-funded space agencies of the US, USSR, and China. Of them, only China managed to do so on their first try in 2013 (Chang’e-3), and again in 2019 on the far side of the Moon (Chang’e-4). What is the toughest part about a Moon landing is not to get near the Moon, but it’s about getting close to the surface without getting lost. Since there are no navigation satellites beyond those you put up before the landing, and a lot of Moon dust that will be kicked up by any landing rocket engines, it can be tough to gauge one’s exact location and distance to the surface.
In the case of the ispace lander it would appear that it tragically ran out of propellant before it could safely touch down, which is another major concern. Both the US and USSR would smash Moon landers into its surface until the first successful landing in 1966, which makes the manned touchdown by Apollo 11 in 1969 even more impressive. | 41 | 12 | [
{
"comment_id": "6638533",
"author": "Mark",
"timestamp": "2023-05-03T11:35:21",
"content": "I’ve played Lunar Lander enough times to know how not to land.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "6638543",
"author": "cyberteque",
"time... | 1,760,372,312.477083 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2023/05/03/kerfmeter-measures-laser-cutter-kerf-allowances-on-the-fly/ | Kerfmeter Measures Laser Cutter Kerf Allowances On The Fly | Dan Maloney | [
"Laser Hacks",
"Tool Hacks"
] | [
"box joint",
"cam",
"finger joint",
"kerf",
"kerf allowance",
"laser cutter"
] | Nothing beats a laser cutter and a sheet of Baltic birch plywood or MDF when it comes to making quick, attractive enclosures. Burning out all the pieces and fitting them together with finger joints is super satisfying — right up until you realize that you didn’t quite get the kerf allowance right, and your pieces don’t fit together very nicely. If only there was a way to automate kerf measurement.
There is, in the form of
Kerfmeter
. It comes to us by way of the lab of [Patrick Baudisch] at the University of Potsdam, where they’ve come up with a clever way to measure the kerf of a laser cutter right during the cutting session. With the Kerfmeter mounted directly to the laser cutter head, a small test artifact based on an Archimedean spiral is cut into a corner of the workpiece. Pins on a small motor engage with the object and turn it until it jams in its hole; the wider the kerf, the greater the angle. Once the kerf is calculated, the rest of the design can be dilated by the proper amount to achieve a perfect fit. The video below shows it better than words can explain it.
What we like about this is its simplicity — all it involves is a motor and a microcontroller, plus a little software. It seems much faster than using a traditional kerf gauge, not to mention more precise. And while it does use up a little bit of material, the test pattern is really pretty small, all things considered. Seems like a reasonable trade-off to us. Still, if you want to figure out your kerfs the old-fashioned way,
we’ve got you covered
.
Thanks to [Leif] for the tip. | 21 | 7 | [
{
"comment_id": "6638498",
"author": "Doug",
"timestamp": "2023-05-03T08:16:33",
"content": "It occurs to me you don’t even need the special attachment. Marking a scale on the board and reference mark on the disc would allow you to turn it by hand, measure how far it turned, and input that value int... | 1,760,372,312.716437 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2023/05/02/ibm-pc-runs-basic-with-motorola-68000-cpu-upgrade/ | IBM PC Runs BASIC With Motorola 68000 CPU Upgrade | Robin Kearey | [
"classic hacks",
"Retrocomputing"
] | [
"8088",
"IBM PC",
"Motorola 68000",
"Teensy 4.1"
] | Although ARM CPUs have been making headway in several areas of computing over the last decade or so, the vast majority of desktop, laptop and server CPUs are still based on the x86 architecture. How that came to be is no secret, of course: IBM chose the Intel 8088 to power its model 5150 PC back in the early 1980s, and since it became the dominant PC platform, everyone else followed suit. But what if IBM’s purchasing department had got a good deal at Motorola instead? [Ted Fried] has been experimenting with that scenario, by
equipping an IBM PC with a 68000 CPU
.
To be fair, he didn’t use an actual Motorola chip; instead, he emulated a 68k core on a Teensy 4.1 and implemented the 8088’s bus interface on its pins. The emulated core does exactly the same thing an actual CPU would do, while the rest of the computer works the same way it always did – data is stored in the motherboard’s DRAM chips, keystrokes are processed by the standard 8255 chip and progam output is displayed on the monitor through the MDA video card.
The biggest problem inherent in performing such a heart transplant is that there’s no software for the resulting system: standard PC programs won’t run on the CPU, while software made for 68000-based computers can’t handle the IBM’s input and output devices. [Ted] therefore decided to use
68000 Tiny Basic
, which is a minimalist version of BASIC designed for 68000-based single-board PCs, and adapt it to his specific use case. As you can see in the video embedded below, it works perfectly fine: the PC might as well have been running plain old Microsoft BASIC.
While the new CPU should be quite a bit faster than the original Intel chip, a side-by-side performance comparison shows little improvement in the PC’s overall speed. But it’s nevertheless an interesting experiment, and it makes you wonder what today’s PCs would look like, had IBM chosen a different CPU back then. How they settled on the 8088 is actually
a fascinating story in itself
. | 13 | 6 | [
{
"comment_id": "6638470",
"author": "Michael Black",
"timestamp": "2023-05-03T05:08:20",
"content": "About thirty years ago there was a 68000 project in Radio Electronics, written by Peter Stark. I don’t think he designed it. It had an ISA bus and used IBM peripherals like the keyboard and videoc... | 1,760,372,313.39506 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2023/05/02/e-bike-battery-tapped-for-off-grid-laptop-power/ | E-Bike Battery Tapped For Off-Grid Laptop Power | Tom Nardi | [
"laptops hacks",
"Transportation Hacks"
] | [
"battery backup",
"battery pack",
"e-bike",
"power adapter"
] | If you’ve travelling via bike, you’ll know there’s a certain advantage to packing light. But what if you need to take your beefy desktop-replacement laptop with you on one of these trips? These power hungry machines can’t go far without their chargers (or a place to plug them in), which generally makes them poor traveling companions.
Luckily, [transistor-man] came up with a solution to this particular problem by reusing his
e-bike’s battery pack as a mobile power source for his Lenovo laptop
. The energy demands of this particular computer are too high for USB-C Power Delivery, and as such, he had to hack up a way to feed it 20 volts DC via its proprietary square power connector. His bike’s battery puts out between 30 and 42 VDC depending on charge, so at least on paper, it should work out fine.
With a bit of experimentation, [transistor-man] determined that the peak current during his laptop’s charge cycle was 8 amps, or 160 watts. He reasoned there was no way it could continuously operate at such high current, so he estimated the could get away with a DC-DC converter that would accept the voltage range of his battery and output a constant voltage with around 150 watts of power. As it so happens, these are fairly common on the second hand market, and he picked one up to be the heart of his new gadget.
One potential issue was that the converter he bought normally outputs 24 V. Luckily, he didn’t need to add another regulator into the system, as consulting with the datasheet showed the output voltage could be adjusted with nothing more exotic than a resistor tacked onto an external trim terminal. He then designed 3D printable caps for either side of his converter, one to cover the terminals, and another to hold a handy wattmeter from Adafruit. Now that the core components are settled, there’s no reason [transistor-man] couldn’t adapt his creation for other devices that need some extended runtime. | 12 | 7 | [
{
"comment_id": "6638452",
"author": "Lily",
"timestamp": "2023-05-03T02:49:40",
"content": "To be clear the resistor here is just to set the output voltage on the converter. The resistor itself is not handling any load current (thankfully).",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []... | 1,760,372,312.61199 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2023/05/04/jet-engine-tachometer-turned-into-unique-cpu-utilization-meter/ | Jet Engine Tachometer Turned Into Unique CPU Utilization Meter | Dan Maloney | [
"computer hacks"
] | [
"3-phase",
"avionics",
"direct digital synthesis",
"eddy current",
"magnetic drag",
"synchronous",
"tachometer",
"vfd"
] | When you’ve got a piece of interesting old aviation hardware on your desk, what do you do with it? If you’re not willing to relegate it to paperweight status, your only real choice is to tear it down to see what makes it tick. And if you’re lucky, you’ll be able to put it to work based on what you learned.
That’s what happened when [Glen Akins] came across a tachometer for a jet airplane, which he promptly turned into
a unique CPU utilization gauge
for his computer. Much of the write-up is concerned with probing the instrument’s innards to learn its secrets, although it was clear from the outset that his tachometer, from Kollsman Instruments, was electrically driven. [Glen]’s investigation revealed a 3-phase synchronous motor inside the tach. The motor drives a permanent magnet, which spins inside a copper cup attached to the needle on the tach’s face. Eddy currents induced in the cup by the spinning magnet create a torque that turns the needle against the force of a hairspring. Pretty simple — but how to put the instrument to work?
[Glen]’s solution was to build what amounts to a variable frequency drive (VFD). His power supply is based on techniques he used to explore aircraft synchros, which
we covered
a while back. The drive uses a trio of MCP4802 8-bit DACs to generate three phase-shifted sine waves via direct digital synthesis with an RP2040. The 3-phase signal drives the motor and spins the dial, with 84-Hz corresponding to full-scale deflection.
The video below shows the resulting CPU utilization gauge — which just queries for the current load level and sends it to the RP2040 over serial — in action. It’s not exactly responsive to rapid changes, but that’s to be expected from a mechanical system. And compared to exploring such a nice instrument, it really doesn’t matter. | 16 | 7 | [
{
"comment_id": "6638867",
"author": "ndhmio",
"timestamp": "2023-05-04T11:07:52",
"content": "When you’ve got a piece of interesting old aviation hardware on your desk, what do you do with it?First, check with geiger counter if it isn’t hot. Then see if it’s worth anything. If not, take it apart, s... | 1,760,372,312.767809 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2023/05/04/thermal-camera-plus-machine-learning-reads-passwords-off-keyboard-keys/ | Thermal Camera Plus Machine Learning Reads Passwords Off Keyboard Keys | Donald Papp | [
"Artificial Intelligence",
"Security Hacks"
] | [
"machine learning",
"Password cracking",
"security",
"Thermal"
] | An age-old vulnerability of physical keypads is visibly worn keys. For example, a number pad with digits clearly worn from repeated use provides an attacker with a clear starting point. The same concept can be applied to keyboards by
using a thermal camera with the help of machine learning
, but it also turns out that some types of keys and typing styles are harder to read than others.
Researchers at the University of Glasgow show how machine learning can pull details from thermal images like these quickly and effectively.
Touching a key with a fingertip imparts a slight amount of body heat, and that small amount of heat can be spotted by a thermal sensor.
We’ve seen this basic approach used since at least 2005
, and two things have changed since then: thermal cameras gotten much more common, and researchers discovered that by combining thermal readings with machine learning, it’s possible to eke out slight details too difficult or subtle to spot by human eye and judgement alone.
Here’s a link to the research and findings
from the University of Glasgow, which shows how even a 16 symbol password can be attacked with an average accuracy of 55%. Shorter passwords are much easier to decipher, with the system attacking 6 and 8 symbol passwords with an accuracy between 92% and 80%, respectively. In the study, thermal readings were taken up to a full minute after the password was entered, but sooner readings result in higher accuracy.
A few things make things harder for the system. Fast typists spend less time touching keys, and therefore transfer less heat when they do, making things a little more challenging. Interestingly, the material of the keycaps plays a large role.
ABS
keycaps retain heat
far
more effectively than PBT (a material we often see in
custom keyboard builds like this one
.) It also turns out that the tiny amount of heat from LEDs in backlit keyboards runs effective interference when it comes to thermal readings.
Amusingly this kind of highly modern attack would be entirely useless against a
scramblepad
. Scramblepads are vintage devices that mix up which numbers go with which buttons each time the pad is used. Thermal imaging and machine learning would be able to tell which buttons were pressed and in what order, but that still wouldn’t help! A reminder that when it comes to security, tech does matter but fundamentals can matter more. | 43 | 15 | [
{
"comment_id": "6638834",
"author": "Jan",
"timestamp": "2023-05-04T08:53:25",
"content": "Ok, an 8 letter password will give you 256 possible combinations.Add shifted and special characters and not even machine learning is going to help.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
... | 1,760,372,312.558434 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2023/05/03/carbon-fiber-and-kevlar-make-this-linear-actuator-fast-and-strong/ | Carbon Fiber And Kevlar Make This Linear Actuator Fast And Strong | Dan Maloney | [
"Misc Hacks"
] | [
"cable drive",
"carbon fiber",
"kevlar",
"linear actuator",
"ODrive"
] | When it comes to the “build versus buy” question, “buy” almost always wins. The amount of time you have to put into building something is rarely justified, especially with a world of options available at the click of a mouse.
That’s not always the case, of course.
These custom-made linear actuators
are a perfect example of when building your own wins. For a planned ball-juggling robot, [Harrison Low] found himself in need of linear actuators with long throw distance, high speed, and stiff construction. Nothing commercially available checked all the boxes, so he set out to design his own.
A few design iterations later, [Harrison] arrived at the actuators you see in the video below. Built mainly from carbon fiber tubing and 3D-printed parts, the actuators have about 30 centimeters of throw, and thanks to their cable-drive design, they’re pretty fast — much faster than his earlier lead screw designs. The stiffness of the actuator comes by way of six bearings to guide the arm, arranged in two tiers of three, each offset by 60 degrees. Along with some clever eccentric spacers to fine-tune positioning, this design provides six points of contact that really lock the tube into place.
The cable drive system [Harrison] used is pretty neat too. A Kevlar kite string is attached to each end of the central tube and then through PTFE tubes to a pulley on an ODrive BLDC, which extends and retracts the actuator. It’s a clever design in that it keeps the weight of the motor away from the actuator, but it does have its problems, as [Harrison] admits. Still, the actuator works great, and it looks pretty cool while doing it.
CAD and code
are available if you want to roll your own.
These actuators are cool enough, but the real treat here will be the ball juggler [Harrison] is building. We’ve seen
a few of those
before, but this one looks like it’s going to be mighty impressive.
Thanks to [Quinor] for the tip. | 9 | 5 | [
{
"comment_id": "6638887",
"author": "The Commenter Formerly Known As Ren",
"timestamp": "2023-05-04T12:16:53",
"content": "I thought carbon fiber was Kevlar heated to char temperatures.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "6638895",
"autho... | 1,760,372,312.661757 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2023/05/03/how-to-install-mac-os-on-the-nintendo-wii/ | How To Install Mac OS On The Nintendo Wii | Maya Posch | [
"Mac Hacks",
"Nintendo Wii Hacks"
] | [
"macOS",
"nintendo wii"
] | What if you could run Mac OS on a Nintendo Wii game console? That’s probably not a thought that has occurred to many Wii owners or Mac OS users, but that is no excuse not to give it a try, as [Michael]
handily demonstrates
in a recent video by running Mac OS 9 on a Nintendo’s legendary console. The first major issue is what anyone who has ever tried to put a Hackintosh together knows: just because a target system runs the same CPU architecture can you necessarily install Mac OS (or OS X) for Intel x86 on any Intel x86 system. The same is true for the Wii with its PowerPC CPU and running Mac OS 9 for PowerPC on it.
In order to make this work, a workaround is employed, which uses the fossilized
Mac-on-Linux project
to run PowerPC Mac OS essentially on Linux for the Wii. This is a kernel module which allows Mac OS to run at basically native speeds on Linux, but it being a Linux kernel module, it meant that [Michael] had to hunt down the correct kernel to go with it. After creating an SD card with a functioning bootloader, he was able to boot into Wii Linux with MoL enabled, and try to install Mac OS.
OS X didn’t work for some reason, but Mac OS 9 did work, albeit with severe font rendering and audio glitches. All of which seems to come down to that while it is possible to get Mac OS running on the Wii, doing so is definitely more for the challenge and experience. By the way, if all this sounds a bit familiar, it’s because [Michael] referenced the
Mac-on-Wii work that [Dandu] did last year
to make this latest iteration happen.
Thanks to [Stephen Walters] for the tip. | 5 | 5 | [
{
"comment_id": "6638786",
"author": "David Kuder",
"timestamp": "2023-05-04T02:32:19",
"content": "When I last looked at MoL years ago it was seemingly abandoned and almost impossible to get working then. It would have been interesting to see it working on a Power5 workstation or something even mor... | 1,760,372,312.80869 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2023/05/03/lora-goes-to-the-moon/ | LoRa Goes To The Moon | Bryan Cockfield | [
"Radio Hacks"
] | [
"Earth-Moon-Earth",
"EME",
"HackRF",
"long distance",
"LoRa",
"moon bounce",
"path loss",
"radio",
"sdr",
"SDRAngel"
] | LoRa is a communications method that allows for long range radio contacts to be made using typically low-powered devices. This shouldn’t be surprising given that LoRa is short for “long range” which typically involves distances on the order of a few kilometers. However, a group of students are taking the “long range” moniker to the extreme by attempting to send and receive a signal with a total path of around 768,000 kilometers by using some specialized equipment
to bounce a LoRa signal off of the moon and receive it back on Earth
.
Earth-Moon-Earth (EME) communications are typically done by amateur radio operators as a hobby, since the development of communications satellites largely rendered other uses of this communication pathway obsolete. A directional antenna and a signal typically on the order of 1 kW are often used to compensate for the extremely high path losses. Using LoRa, which makes use of chirp spread spectrum modulation, they hope to reduce this power requirement significantly. The signals are being generated and received on a set of
HackRF One
devices fed into a series of amplifiers, and the team is also employing a set of large dish antennas, one in New Jersey and another in Alaska, to send and receive the messages.
The software used is the open-source
SDRAngel
which is useful for controlling the HackRF and moving the LoRa signal up to 1296 MHz. Normally LoRa is operated on an unlicensed band, but this method allows for finer control of not only frequency but also bandwidth, which helps reduce the impacts of path loss. Right now they have not yet completed their contacts with the Alaska station (partially due to that antenna being covered in snow) but we hope to hear more news in the future. In the meantime, take a look at some more traditional
long-range communications using this protocol
with more manageable-sized antennas.
Image courtesy of NASA, Public domain, via
Wikimedia Commons | 12 | 8 | [
{
"comment_id": "6638752",
"author": "jimbo janglies",
"timestamp": "2023-05-03T23:16:10",
"content": "and how much mass of wiring between components on a satellite can be replaced by low-power radio?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "6638759",
... | 1,760,372,312.858835 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2023/05/03/new-drivers-for-ancient-webcam/ | New Drivers For Ancient Webcam | Bryan Cockfield | [
"Peripherals Hacks"
] | [
"00s",
"90's",
"bayer filter",
"color",
"driver",
"image",
"nostalgia",
"usb",
"user space",
"webcam"
] | For those of us who are a little older, the 90s seem like they were just a few years ago. The younger folks might think that the 90s were ancient history though, and they might be right as we’ve been hearing more bands like Pearl Jam and The Offspring playing on the classic rock stations lately. Another example of how long ago the 90s were is taking a look at the technological progress that has happened since then through the lens of things like this webcam from 1999,
presuming you load up this custom user space driver
from [benjojo].
Thankfully the driver for this infamous webcam didn’t need to be built completely from scratch. There’s a legacy driver available for Windows XP which showed that the camera still physically worked, and there’s also a driver for Linux which was used as a foundation to start working from. From there a USB interface was set up which allowed communication to the device. Not a simple task, but apparently much easier than the next steps which involve actually interpreting the information coming from the webcam. This is where a background in digital signal processing is handy to have. First, the resolution and packet size were sorted out which led to a somewhat recognizable image. From there a single monochrome image was pieced together, and then after deconstructing a Bayer filter and adding color, the webcam is back to its former 90s glory.
[benjojo] has hosted all of the code for this project on a
GitHub page
for anyone who still has one of these webcams sitting around in the junk drawer. The resolution and color fidelity are about what we’d expect for a 25-year-old device that predates Skype, Facebook, Wikipedia, and Firefox. And, while there are still some things that need to be tweaked such as the colors, white balance, and exposure, once that is sorted out the
90s and early 00s nostalgia
is free to flood in. | 45 | 16 | [
{
"comment_id": "6638701",
"author": "Michael Black",
"timestamp": "2023-05-03T20:12:59",
"content": "I have webcams, but never used one other than to try it. I don’t get the appeal.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "6638711",
"author":... | 1,760,372,312.978177 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2023/05/03/op-amp-challenge-reliable-peak-power-measurement/ | Op-Amp Challenge: Reliable Peak Power Measurement | Jenny List | [
"contests",
"hardware"
] | [
"Op Amp Challenge",
"op-amp",
"peak detector",
"sample and hold"
] | As part of our Op-Amp Challenge we’re seeing a wide diversity of entries showcasing the seemingly endless capabilities of these extremely versatile parts. Another one comes from [Joseph Thomas], who when faced with the need to measure the properties of an automotive spark plug, came up with
a precision peak detector
to hold on to the energy level used when firing it.
It starts with an op-amp buffer feeding a diode and capacitor. The capacitor is charged through the diode and holds the level, which can be read through another op-amp. Finally there’s an opto-isolated transistor to discharge the capacitor before a fresh reading is taken.
It’s a simple enough circuit but a very effective one. The op-amps used are bit old-school FET devices, but aside from the high impedance input their performance is hardly critical. Yet another op-amp circuit to hold in reserve should you ever need to perform this task. | 15 | 7 | [
{
"comment_id": "6638696",
"author": "Miroslav Kisacanin",
"timestamp": "2023-05-03T20:03:49",
"content": "Aside form “complaining” about terminology (this is not peak power or peak energy measurement, this is peak voltage measurement gizmo :)), why do you need 3 OpAmpsYou can probably get most of w... | 1,760,372,313.029932 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2023/05/02/nasas-curiosity-mars-rover-gets-a-major-software-upgrade/ | NASA’s Curiosity Mars Rover Gets A Major Software Upgrade | Maya Posch | [
"News",
"Space"
] | [
"curiosity rover",
"mars",
"nasa",
"space"
] | Although the Curiosity rover has been well out of the reach of human hands since it touched down on Mars’ surface in 2012, this doesn’t mean that it isn’t getting constant upgrades. Via its communication link with Earth it receives regular firmware updates, with the most
recent one
being the largest one since 2016. In addition to code clean-up and small tweaks to message formats, this new change should make Curiosity both smarter and have its wheels last longer.
The former helps to avoid the long idle times between navigating, as unlike its younger sibling, Curiosity does not have the dedicated navigation computer for more autonomous driving. Although it won’t make the 11-year old rover as nimble as its sibling, it should shorten these pauses and allow for more navigating and science to be done. Finally, the change to reduce wear on the wheels is fairly simple, but should be rather effective: this affects the amount of steering that Curiosity needs to do while driving in an arc.
With these changes in place, Curiosity should be all ready to receive its newest sibling as it arrives in a few years along with even more Mars helicopters. | 21 | 7 | [
{
"comment_id": "6638430",
"author": "The Commenter Formerly Known As Ren",
"timestamp": "2023-05-02T23:32:17",
"content": "I hope they will be able to back out of the update if necessary.B^)I wonder how much Spyware Google has put in this update?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"repli... | 1,760,372,313.251534 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2023/05/02/electroosmotic-haptics-for-more-tactile-touch-devices/ | Electroosmotic Haptics For More Tactile Touch Devices | Navarre Bartz | [
"hardware",
"Multitouch Hacks"
] | [
"haptics",
"tactile feedback",
"touch"
] | If you’re like us, one of the appeals of retro tech is the tactile feedback you get from real buttons. Researchers at Carnegie Mellon have developed a new method for
bringing haptic feedback to touchscreen devices
.
Using an array of miniaturized electroosmotic pumps, the current prototype devices offer 5 mm of displacement from a 5 mm stackup which is a significant improvement over previous technologies which required a lot more hardware than the displacement provided. When placed under a flexible screen, notifications and other user interactions like the keyboard can raise and lower as desired.
Each layer is processed by laser before assembly and the finished device is self-contained, needing only electrical connections. No need for a series of tubes carrying fluid to make it work. Interaction surfaces have been able to scale from 2-10 mm in diameter with the current work, but do appear to be fixed based on the video (below the break).
You might find
applications for haptics in VR
or want to build your own
Haptic Smart Knob
. | 18 | 8 | [
{
"comment_id": "6638373",
"author": "Foldi-One",
"timestamp": "2023-05-02T20:32:55",
"content": "Now this is a fascinating idea. Not exactly what I was expecting for ‘tactile touch’, but I can’t really think of a better description. I was just expecting it to be more like the haptic feed back thing... | 1,760,372,313.184659 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2023/05/02/hackaday-prize-2023-eye-tracking-on-a-budget/ | Hackaday Prize 2023: Eye Tracking On A Budget | Donald Papp | [
"The Hackaday Prize",
"Wearable Hacks"
] | [
"2023 Hackaday Prize",
"endoscope",
"eye tracking",
"opencv",
"USB camera"
] | There is a lot to be learned from the experience of building something functional, and even better if doing so doesn’t break the bank. [Sergej Stoetzer]’s
20€ DIY-Eyetracker
aims to be an educational process that covers everything from hardware to functional software in an accessible way.
Hardware based on an economical USB endoscope, and can be used as-is or repackaged with IR illumination.
The eye tracker is based on an economical USB endoscope, which is a small camera optimized for up-close applications. By attaching the camera to a pair of common safety glasses so that it looks at one’s eye, some
OpenCV
and Python code can do simple tracking and interfacing with other projects.
Basic eye tracking — like determining whether a user is looking up, down, left, or right — can be all that’s needed depending on one’s application. That means that it’s possible to get something working with very little hardware and some easy-to-use OpenCV functions.
Even better performance can be had by adding IR illumination and repackaging the camera into a 3D printed enclosure. The pupil of the eye is an aperture in the iris that appears as a black circle, and that’s even more true under IR illumination which is invisible to the naked eye. If you’re curious about what’s inside those USB endoscope cameras and how to remove their IR filter, there are some good pictures of that process in this project.
The ability to get something prototyped quickly and working well enough to learn new things is a valuable skill, and that’s why
re-engineering Education is one of the challenges in the 2023 Hackaday Prize
.
The
Hackaday
Prize 2023
is Sponsored by: | 4 | 2 | [
{
"comment_id": "6638369",
"author": "Sword",
"timestamp": "2023-05-02T20:15:08",
"content": "That is really cool. I would love to have an eye mouse",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "6638423",
"author": "The Commenter Formerly Known As R... | 1,760,372,313.493594 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2023/05/02/fet-fun-endeavors-together/ | FET: Fun Endeavors Together | Arya Voronova | [
"Hackaday Columns",
"Parts",
"Slider"
] | [
"circuits",
"fet",
"learning",
"level shifting",
"parts",
"transistor"
] | Last time, we’ve looked over FET basics, details, nuances and caveats. Basics aren’t all there is to FETs, however – let’s go through real-world uses, in all their wonderful variety! I want to show you a bunch of cool circuits where a friendly FET, specifically a MOSFET, can help you – and, along the way, I’d also like to introduce you to a few FETs that I feel like you all could have a good long-term friendship with. If you don’t already know them, that is!
Driving Relays
Perhaps, that’s the single most popular use for an NPN transistor – driving coils, like relays or solenoids. We are quite used to driving relays with BJTs, typically an NPN – but it doesn’t have to be a BJT, FETs often will do the job just as fine! Here’s an N-FET, used in the exact same configuration as a typical BJT is, except instead of a base current limiting resistor, we have a gate-source resistor – you can’t quite solder the BJT out and solder the FET in after you have designed the board, but it’s a pretty seamless replacement otherwise. The freewheel (back EMF protection) diode is still needed for when you switch the relay and the coil produces wacky voltages in protest, but hey, can’t have every single aspect be superior.
The reason you can drive it the same way is quite simple: in the usual NPN circuit, the relay is driven by a 3.3 V or a 5 V logic level GPIO, and for small signal FETs, that is well within Vgs. However, if your MCU has 1.8 V GPIOs and your FET’s Vgs doesn’t quite cut it, an NPN transistor is a more advantageous solution, since that one will work as long as you can source the whatever little current and the measly 0.7 V needed.
And here’s our first two friendly transistors, 2N7002 and BSS138 – they’re both small-signal N-FETs, fit for exactly this kind of job. The 2N7002 is a pretty classic part – you will see it a lot in whatever place an N-FET can fit. The BSS138 is very similar, with a tad higher Rds range, but a tad lower Vgs range – you’ll see it in some Sparkfun or Adafruit schematics. You can safely buy a bunch of either of these, and use them in your circuits whenever you need a small N-FET you can drive with a GPIO.
Level Shifting
There’s more to small logic-level FETs, of course – for instance, if you ever needed to level-shift a few signals back and forth, you might’ve used those small ‘level shifter’ boards with four SOT23 parts on them. Those SOT23 parts are actually FETs, and our [Jenny List] has covered this kind of shifter in
her extensive article about level shifting.
This method is also cheap, simple, and will work with the overwhelming majority of the signals you’ll ever want to level-shift – all the more reasons to stock up on small signal N-FETs!
Reverse Polarity Protection
Here’s the ever-so-wonderful circuit that lets you do lossless reverse polarity protection with a FET! You can use either kind of FET – often, a P-FET is used for this, since having uninterrupted common ground has its benefits, but an N-FET will work too. This way of reverse polarity protection is way, way better than using a series diode, because you don’t waste anywhere near as much power – at 1-2A of power consumption, a diode can have you waste over 1W of power into heat.
If Vgs isn’t higher than your expected power input, all you need to do is tie a P-FET’s gate to the negative pin, connect the power input to the positive pin, and have the drain pin be the output. Otherwise, if your input voltage might exceed Vgs or reverse Vgs thresholds, you’ll want to add a zener diode and a resistor to clamp the voltage. This kind of reverse polarity protection is cheap, lossless, and can absolutely save your components from a fiery death.
Of course, unless your circuit is quite low-power, you’ll want to move beyond small-signal FETs – what about the power input for a development board you’re working on? Perhaps, you could even use the same kind of FET you’d use for high-side switching peripherals? Let’s look into more powerful FETs – specifically, a few small yet good P-FETs that can handle higher currents without breaking a sweat.
There are quite a few small but powerful FETs with maximum Vgs range from 12V to 24V and maximum Ids around 2A-4A, that fit a large amount of occasions. Some of them have boast logic-level input, which usually means reasonable Rds at Vgs considerably lower than 3.3V logic high level, i.e. 1.8V – if you ever need to switch power to a 3.3V WiFi module and you want to do it with a GPIO, such a FET will fit the bill. Others don’t mark themselves as logic-level, but have reasonable Rds at low Vgs.
Out of my favourite all-purpose higher-current P-FETs, I’ve started out with IRLML6401 and IRLML6402, and now I use their Eastern counterparts, CJ2305 and HX2301A, purely because these are cheaper on LCSC. When it comes to N-FETs of similar caliber, IRLML2502 is great, and AO3400A has been an Eastern-made gadget classic for years. Looking for more? Check out
this Ask Hackaday installment,
where hackers gave us suggestions on exactly this kind of FETs.
Power Path
We’ve all seen a two-diode circuit, letting you power a circuit from either a DC power input or a battery with seamless switching. However, there’s a problem – while on battery power, having a series diode will have you lose out on a decent chunk of output voltage, and that is especially noticeable when powering a 3.3V circuit from a LiIon battery with its 4.2V-3V voltage range. This circuit takes the load off the battery while it’s charging, powering the load from 5V instead. While having the load perma-connected to the battery in parallel sounds like it could work, you don’t want to interfere with the charger’s CC/CV cycle.
I’ve mentioned this one in
the LiIon circuitry article,
but it bears a highlight once again – it’s just that great of a circuit to have. Of course, you’ll want a FET that fits the bill, and logic-level P-FETs fit this circuit wonderfully. Oh, and sizing the resistor correctly can help with issues – you can safely go for something like 10 kΩ or even 47 kΩ, but if your circuit brownouts when disconnecting the charger, you can lower it down to as low as 1 kΩ; a FET gate doesn’t need all that much current to stay charged, after all.
Keep in mind – compared to the usual high-side switching arrangement, this circuit turns the FET around, swapping drain and source so that 5V doesn’t feed into the battery through the body diode. it will work nevertheless, specifically because the body diode results in voltage on the source pin, but keep in mind that the Vgs threshold has to be calculated by subtracting the body diode drop from the lowest possible battery voltage – the FET might not open otherwise.
Soft Start
Sometimes, when you switch power to a peripheral like a GSM modem on its own breakout board, with some hefty capacitors on its power rail, it’s going to consume a whole lot of current and dip the voltage – likely, having your microcontroller brownout and reboot. With a single capacitor between gate and drain, you can add primitive soft-start to your high-side-switching P-FET-based circuit – having the FET spend longer time in its linear region as it is being switched on, pre-charging the capacitors before it fully opens, and smoothing out the power draw peak. This is a hack, but it solves the issue, and it’s something you can even bodge in post-production.
Would you like to know more? Here’s
a wonderful appnote from onsemi,
talking about basics of load switching with FETs, going into both practical examples of it and the math behind it, as well as cases where you might want to use a load switch instead. Oh, and what would those be, by the way?
When A Load Switch Fits Better
It’s hard to match just how well-integrated ICs can be – a single chip can solve all of your problems in a way that a discrete-component solution might never be able to. For instance, let’s say you want to switch a 5V/1.5A load, but you’d also quite benefit from overcurrent protection. With a self-built FET-based load switching solution, you will need to add a current-measuring resistor and an opamp or a comparator, at the very least. On the other hand, a load switch like a SY6280 has all of the features that you could have when building your own high-side switch with FETs, a current limit easily configurable with a single resistor, and even an optional output discharge resistor in case your device could benefit from not having residual voltage after you switch it off.
All in all, there’s a large variety of load switches designed to make your circuits less complex and more capable, and they’re not all that much more costly than having an extra FET. They all have FETs inside of them, but they’re GPIO-controllable as a rule – no more need for minding gate capacitance or Vgs. Some of them let you do soft-start, while others might not; some of them have current limiting and other ones don’t, some of them have reverse current flow protection and others don’t, but whatever application you have in mind, you will be able to find a load switch whenever your FET-based circuit starts to get too complex for your needs.
Finding Your Friends
Of course, sometimes you’ll be left needing a very specific FET, some use case that you don’t have a familiar candidate for. At such a point, you’ll have to refer to a part picker – and it might feel a bit intimidating to do so, as there’s quite a few parameters to. For a start, go for SMD FETs for most above-mentioned usecases – through-hole FETs are quite rare for something like “20V Vds max, 3A Ids max”, and SMD FETs in their typical packages are quite solderable. In other words, you don’t need to look into THT parts when you have to go higher-power.
For the same characteristics, N-FETs are going to be slightly cheaper than P-FETs, they will have slightly lower Rds, and they might be more easily available. This is not something you usually have the freedom to pick betweet, but at the point when you do have control over the circuit, perhaps going for an N-FET for your high-power switching tasks is a good idea. Having picked your type of FET, limit by that category, and perhaps limit by the number of channels too – either one or two are a decent choice, but generally it makes sense to have single-channel ones unless you’re using many similar FETs in your circuit.
With main parameters, the most crucial are Vds and Id, so you can start by limiting your choice by these; do a healthy over-spec on your maximum voltage expected, you really don’t want to stay near the expected maximum values during real-world use, so having at least 20% of leeway, or even way more for inductive loads, is a good idea. However, going too far above on either of these parts might get you to parts with unreasonably large Vgs needed, so there’s no need to go too far. In other words, you’ll want at least a 30V/3A FET for switching a 24V/2A LED strip, while a 45V/5A FET will be too high.
After limiting the Vds and Ids range, you can finish by filtering out any kinds of packages you might not want to hand-solder – for SMD specifically, limiting yourself to SOT- and SO- is a good idea if you don’t have a hot air gun. At this point, you should have a decently small number of FETs – this is a moment where you can filter out the few Vgs threshold and Rds outliers left, then sort by price and see what the low-end options available to you are. Find a few where Vgs looks surface-level satisfactory, then go to the datasheet and check through the graphs. At the Vgs you’re able to provide, does Rds look reasonable?
Abundant, Universal, Helpful
There’s way more recipes for FET use in your circuits than these. You will see PWM controllers, motor controllers,
electronics loads,
protection circuits, – a FET might just have a well-deserved place on your board, and it is wonderful if you’re comfortable using them. Next time you’re looking into handling a bit of power, or a lot of power, a friendly FET might just be the best help you can get. | 42 | 11 | [
{
"comment_id": "6638339",
"author": "Michael Black",
"timestamp": "2023-05-02T17:31:24",
"content": "If I see “fet”, I read “jfet”. That’s the default. Use them in oscillators, as attenuators, rf preamps.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "663... | 1,760,372,313.577791 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2023/05/02/op-amp-challenge-an-ultra-cheap-ph-sensor-amplifier/ | Op Amp Challenge: An Ultra-Cheap PH Sensor Amplifier | Jenny List | [
"contests",
"hardware"
] | [
"instrumentation amp",
"Op Amp Challenge",
"op-amp",
"pH meter"
] | It’s rare in 2023 for an instrument to be entirely analog, instead it’s more normal for a front-end to feed the analog-to-digital converter (ADC) in a microcontroller. Typically the front-end will do the job of transforming whatever the output range of the sensor is, and present it to the microcontroller in whatever range it accepts. [David] had exactly this problem with a pH sensor, and
rather than buy an expensive module to do the job he designed his own
.
The sensor in question produces a relatively tiny voltage of -0.414 to +0.414 volts, and requires a very high input impedance. A FET input op-amp is selected, with the ground of the sensor shifted upwards into the positive range by a voltage divider. This then feeds a second op-amp that amplifies the resulting DC voltage for the microcontroller input.
This circuit is an especially simple op-amp application, and is a typical one for a sensor interface where a DC voltage needs to be brought into range of a microcontroller. If you’re not used to op-amp circuits then take a look, this type of analogue circuit is not difficult and might just save your butt some time.
Want to know more about simple op-amp circuits?
Have we got the video for you
! | 19 | 7 | [
{
"comment_id": "6638313",
"author": "Manfred",
"timestamp": "2023-05-02T15:47:46",
"content": "I have a book from school with all the standard OP applications.PID, P, I, D and all kinds of amplifiers e.g.That is nothing to enter a contest with.BUT if someone draws an operational amplifier as a squa... | 1,760,372,313.451151 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2023/05/02/getting-ready-for-act-2-of-the-great-american-eclipse/ | Getting Ready For Act 2 Of The Great American Eclipse | Dan Maloney | [
"Current Events",
"Featured",
"Interest",
"News",
"Science",
"Slider"
] | [
"eclipse",
"planning",
"total eclipse"
] | It seems like only yesterday that the “Great American Eclipse” swept from coast to coast, and for those who were lucky enough to watch it from along the path of totality, it was a true life experience. No natural phenomenon can compete with the beauty of a total solar eclipse, and if there’s one thing I heard more than anything else in those golden moments after the Sun returned from behind the Moon, it was, “When’s the next one?” Everyone wanted to do it again, and for good reason.
Back in 2017, that question was kind of rhetorical; everyone knew the next eclipse to cross the United States was a mere seven years off. For me personally, the passage of time has not dampened my enthusiasm for eclipses one bit, and I suspect the feeling is mutual among the many people who gazed in wonder and childlike glee at the celestial proceedings of 2017. But except for the very lucky who live within the path of totality, mounting an expedition that optimizes the viewing experience takes preparation. Now that we’re a little less than a year away for the next one, it’s time to get geared up and make plans for the 2024 eclipse.
Where and When?
The 2017 eclipse’s “Great American Eclipse” moniker was well earned, as the continental United States was the sole beneficiary of the view. This time around, the US isn’t the only country along the path; Mexico and Canada will also get in on the fun. In fact, Mexico may well be the best place to watch the eclipse from, but more on that later.
The date you’ll want to mark in your calendars is April 8, 2024. As for the time, you’ll need to be careful; the eclipse will cover five time zones on its way across North America, so you might want to use
a time zone converter
or
other resources
to make sure you don’t show up an hour late. We can say that according to
NASA’s all-inclusive eclipse page
, the Moon’s shadow will first touch the mainland just south of Mazatlán on the western coast of Mexico at 11:07 AM PDT. From that point, the show is on.
Path of the total solar eclipse of April 8, 2024. Source:
NASA
The eclipse will enter the United States north of Eagle Pass in Texas, and proceed in a generally northeast direction from there. The first big city to be brushed by the 125-mile-wide umbra of the Moon’s shadow will be San Antonio, but just barely — totality will only last a few minutes in the city proper. If you’re a totality junkie — and you really should be — a 40 minutes drive to the northwest will get you a much better show.
As with many things, Texas gets the lion’s share of this eclipse, with a glancing blow on Austin and near-direct hits on Waco, Killeen, and Dallas before heading off into Arkansas. St. Louis and Memphis are near misses, but Indianapolis is nearly in the centerline of totality. The shadow almost completely covers Lakes Erie and Ontario, putting Cleveland, Buffalo, and Rochester in a good position to see totality. Burlington and Montpelier, Vermont are the last major US cities to experience totality, with Montreal getting brushed by the northern fringe of the shadow. The show is finally over for the US as the shadow rakes across northern Maine, well above the population centers on the coast, and eventually winds its way out into the North Atlantic by way of New Brunswick and Newfoundland at 5:16 PM NDT.
Totality? Totally!
Just like the 2017 eclipse, the path of totality for this one passes through the most densely populated parts of the US and Canada. Literally everyone in the country will be able to see at least some of the eclipse; even Seattle, the major city that’s farthest from the eclipse’s path, will see about 20% totality. But millions of people will be within reasonable driving distance of the path of totality, which begs the question: Is it worth it?
Speaking from experience
, absolutely! For the 2017 eclipse, I took my family on a trip to eastern Idaho near the city of Rexburg, a drive of about ten hours from our home in North Idaho. Driving that far in search of a couple of minutes of darkness in the middle of the day might sound crazy, but unless you’ve been within totality, you don’t know what you’re missing.
The entire experience
was magical. Granted, that might have had something to do with the setting — we were perched on the rim of an extinct volcano — and the fantastic social aspect of the whole thing. But if you have a chance to get into the path of totality, take my advice and make the effort. You won’t be disappointed.
As for choosing a specific location, things are going to be a lot different this time around. The 2017 eclipse was in August, a month when summer weather patterns are fully in control across most of the United States. Clouds were few and far between for our chosen viewing location, and we got a great show, as did millions who made the trip to totality that day. But the 2024 eclipse is in April, a time when winter and spring are still fighting things out, meteorologically speaking.
Interesting Engineering did an article recently
on what your prospects are for clear weather along the path of totality, and — well, let’s just say it’s not as good this time around.
If you’re in Mexico, you’re probably good — most locations along the path have a 75% chance of clear skies. Further along the path, historical cloud cover ranges from 60 to 65% of the sky from Texas to Arkansas for April 8, and it only gets worse the further north and east that you get. Anyone who has experienced the endless winters of upstate New York and northern New England knows that even though there may be warm days in early April, they’re few and far between, and rarely does the Sun show its face at that time of the year.
Another factor to consider is that while the 2024 eclipse will only graze the official boundary of
“Tornado Alley,”
it still plunges right through an area that is prone to these storms. Plus, April is a time when it’s easy for cold, dry air descending off the east face of the Rockies to meet up with warm, humid air coming up from the Gulf of Mexico, and when those two air masses collide — well, let’s just say that if you get cheated out of seeing the eclipse, you may well get another kind of natural spectacle.
Taking all this into account, my advice for totality seekers is to stay mobile. You only need a two- to four-minute gap in the clouds to see the whole thing, and that could easily be within a short drive. Our strategy for the last eclipse was risky — committing to a viewing location that took an hour to hike to made it impossible to scramble up the road a few miles if a sudden storm came up. Granted, the view we got was totally worth the risk, but the whole thing could have easily been ruined, and knowing that it could have been fixed at the cost of a few gallons of gas would really have stung.
So this time around, we’re going to stay flexible. We’re driving all the way from North Idaho to near Austin, Texas, in part to see the eclipse from as close to centerline as possible, but also to visit with some dear friends I haven’t seen in far too long. I’m planning to do some military-grade pre-planning, using
this interactive tool
to generate maps of every possible route within the path of totality, and perhaps even pulling down
real-time satellite data
in case we need to bug out and find another location. I’ll also probably be
on the air with the local hams
, checking conditions and making sure I can make informed decisions if a last-minute change is needed.
Prepare to Pay
Stylish, comfortable, and functional — the Hackaday eclipse glasses were a big hit in 2017.
One thing that totality chasers will have to keep in mind is that this isn’t going to be cheap. Every hotel and motel owner, not to mention everyone with an AirBnB or VRBO, knows this eclipse is coming, and they’ll be pricing their services accordingly. And sometimes eye-wateringly so —
a news story
out of Erie, Pennsylvania, which will see over four minutes of totality, tells of hotel rooms that normally cost $100 a night going for five to nine times that amount on the date of the eclipse. That seems to be an artifact of online booking, though, since a direct call to one of the overpriced hotels resulted in a booking for only $200 a night, which really isn’t that egregious. Still, you’ll want to be careful with bookings, unless you can depend on the kindness of friends; here’s hoping one of my Texas friends has a spare room. Ben? Jessica?
No matter where you stay, you’re going to have to be prepared for observation. As we outlined last time, direct viewing of the Sun anywhere outside of totality requires
eye protection
, with eclipse glasses being the best bet. A shade 14 welding helmet filter will do the trick too, as will pinhole cameras and the like for indirect viewing. Don’t use smoked glass — you don’t want to trust your eyesight to a random layer of candle soot on a glass slide. On Menan Butte in 2017, the Hackaday-branded eclipse glasses were a big hit; we’ll see if we can bring those back this time around.
Astronomically speaking, total solar eclipses aren’t all that rare. But given the size of our planet and the fact that its surface is 70% water, having an eclipse come close enough to you that it’s feasible to go see it feels like it’s a “once-in-a-lifetime” event. Getting a second chance to see one, especially when you’ve been bitten by the totality bug, feels like a rare opportunity indeed. Make your plans, get prepared, and if you end up anywhere near the Austin area on April 8, drop me a line and maybe we can arrange a meet-up — Hackaday eclipses are the best eclipses! | 41 | 16 | [
{
"comment_id": "6638280",
"author": "Andy Pugh",
"timestamp": "2023-05-02T14:18:29",
"content": "“Astronomically speaking, total eclipses are not that rare”This might not be true. They are not all that uncommon on Earth, but may be very uncommon elsewhere in the Universe, as it requires just the ri... | 1,760,372,313.715103 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2023/05/02/modern-components-enable-cheap-and-compact-nixie-driver-circuit/ | Modern Components Enable Cheap And Compact Nixie Driver Circuit | Robin Kearey | [
"hardware",
"High Voltage"
] | [
"CH32V003",
"IN-12b",
"Nixie driver",
"nixie tubes"
] | Nixie tubes can add some retro flair to any project, but they can also complicate your electronics quite a bit: after all, you need to generate a voltage high enough to ignite the tube and then switch that between ten separate display segments. Traditionalists may want to stick with chunky mains transformers and those unobtainium 74141 segment drivers, but modern components allow you to make things much more compact, not to mention way cheaper. [CNLohr] took this to an extreme, and used clever design tricks and his sharp online shopping skills to make
an exceptionally compact Nixie driver circuit that costs less than $2.50
.
That price doesn’t include the tubes themselves, but [CNLohr] nevertheless bought the cheapest Nixies he could find: a pair of IN-12B tubes that set him back just $20. He decided to generate the necessary 180 volts through a forward converter built around a $0.30 transformer and a three-cent MOSFET, controlled by software running on a CH32V003. This is one of those ultra-cheap microcontrollers that manage to squeeze a 48 MHz RISC-V core plus a bunch of peripherals into a tiny QFN package costing just 12 cents.
The existing toolchain to program these micros left a lot to be desired, so [CNLohr] wrote his own, called
ch32v003fun
. He used this to implement all the control loops for the forward converter as well as PWM control of the display segments – a feature that adds a beautifully smooth turn-on and turn-off effect to the Nixie tubes. There’s still plenty of CPU capacity left to implement other features, although [CNLohr] isn’t sure what to put there yet. Turning the tubes into a clock would be an obvious choice, but the basic system is flexible enough to implement almost anything requiring a numeric display.
The compactness of this circuit is impressive, especially if you compare it to
earlier solutions
. There’s plenty of fun to be had with cheap-yet-powerful micros like the ch32v003,
provided you can find them
. | 14 | 7 | [
{
"comment_id": "6638214",
"author": "some guy",
"timestamp": "2023-05-02T11:04:03",
"content": "s/CNLorh/CNLohr/g",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "6638216",
"author": "Elliot Williams",
"timestamp": "2023-05-02T11:13:49",
... | 1,760,372,313.628116 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2023/05/02/machine-vision-automates-trainspotting-with-unique-full-length-portraits/ | Machine Vision Automates Trainspotting With Unique Full-Length Portraits | Dan Maloney | [
"digital cameras hacks",
"Transportation Hacks"
] | [
"Go",
"machine vision",
"railfan",
"railway",
"raspberry pi",
"train",
"trainspotting",
"video4linux"
] | As hobbies go, trainspotting is just as valid a choice as any — we don’t judge. But it does present certain logistical challenges, such as having to be in visual range of a train to be able to spot it. There’s also the fact that trains are very large objects, and they tend to move very fast. What’s a railfan to do?
If you’re also technically minded, you might try building
an automatic trainspotting bot
like [jo-m] has. It looks like the hardware end of “Trainbot” is pretty simple since it has been tested on both x86 and Raspberry Pi, and supports both video4linux and Pi cam. The magic is in the software, which is able to detect a train entering the frame, record images, and then stitch them together into one long image. The whole thing is coded in Go and has some interesting bits, like a custom image patch mapping package.
Trainbot gives an unusual view of a train, one that most of us accustomed to watching a train pass at a crossing have never seen. By stitching small chunks of the train as it passes, Trainbot is able to show the entire train in a single image, which would be impossible to do except for being very, very far away from the track. [jo-m] also built
a web interface for Trainbot
where you can check out the comings and goings yourself. Each passing train’s image is accompanied by data like its velocity and acceleration, length of the train, and time of passage. There’s also a GIF of the original source video, which is pretty cool.
Here in the States, we don’t have a lot of passenger trains to spot, but we do have some really long freight trains. It’d be interesting to see how this works with a train that’s over a mile long; that would be quite an image. Looks like
someone at least has the hardware in place
to give it a try. | 11 | 8 | [
{
"comment_id": "6638206",
"author": "ono",
"timestamp": "2023-05-02T10:34:04",
"content": "Perfect for the networked Russian spycams installed in Poland near the Ukrainian border, which spy the western weapons deliveries.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"co... | 1,760,372,313.763966 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2023/05/01/recreating-a-non-standard-usb-cable/ | Recreating A Non-Standard USB Cable | Jenny List | [
"Repair Hacks"
] | [
"cable plug",
"usb",
"USB cable"
] | USB is a well-defined standard for which there are a reasonable array of connectors for product designers to use in whatever their application is. Which of course means that so many manufacturers have resorted to using proprietary connectors, probably to ensure that replacements are suitably overpriced. [Teaching Tech] had this problem with a fancy in-car video device, but rather than admit defeat with a missing cable, he decided to
create his own replacement from scratch
.
The plug in use was a multi-way round design probably chosen to match the harshness of the automotive environment. The first solution was to hook up a USB cable to a set of loose pins, but after a search to find the perfect-fitting set of pins a 3D printed housing was designed to replace the shell of the original. There’s an ouch moment in the video below the break as he receives a hot glue burn while assembling the final cable, but the result is a working and easy to use cable that allows access to all the device functions. Something to remember, next time you have a proprietary cable that’s gone missing. | 31 | 7 | [
{
"comment_id": "6638159",
"author": "Mog",
"timestamp": "2023-05-02T05:41:45",
"content": "Yikes, that hot glue burn – someone should tell [Teaching Tech] that’s not what’s meant by “beeping out” a cable! ;-)",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "663... | 1,760,372,313.831911 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2023/05/01/esas-jupiter-bound-probe-hits-antenna-snag/ | ESA’s Jupiter-bound Probe Hits Antenna Snag | Tom Nardi | [
"News",
"Space"
] | [
"antenna",
"jammed",
"Jupiter",
"probe"
] | While the few minutes it takes for a spacecraft’s booster rocket to claw its way out of Earth’s gravity well might be the most obviously hazardous period of the mission, an incredible number of things still need to go right before anyone on the ground can truly relax. Space is about as unforgiving an environment as you can imagine, and once your carefully designed vehicle is on its way out to the black, there’s not a whole lot you can do to help it along if things don’t go according to plan.
That’s precisely where the
European Space Agency (ESA) currently finds themselves
with their Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (Juice) spacecraft. The April 14th launch from the Guiana Space Centre went off without a hitch, but when the probe’s 16 meter (52 foot) radar antenna was commanded to unfurl, something got jammed up. Judging by the images taken from onboard cameras, the antenna has only extended to roughly 1/3rd its total length.
An onboard view of the antenna.
The going theory is that one of the release pins has gotten stuck somewhere, preventing the antenna from moving any further. If that’s the case, it could mean jiggling the pin a few millimeters would get them back in the game. Unfortunately, there’s no gremlins with little hammers stowed away in the craft, so engineers on the ground will have to get a little more creative.
It’s hoped that engine burns could be used to shake the craft, and potentially knock the pin out. They’re also looking at rotating the vehicle to move the antenna mount in and out of the sunlight — the idea being that some expansion and contraction of the metal components could also free things up.
Even in the absolute worse case, the Radar for Icy Moons Exploration (RIME) antenna is just one of ten instruments Juice will use to study Ganymede, Callisto, and Europa. So while it would be disappointing if they can’t get it online, the mission would still provide a wealth of information about these fascinating worlds.
Then again, Juice isn’t scheduled to reach Jupiter until at least July of 2031, so there’s still plenty of time to try and figure something out. After all, it wouldn’t be the first
deep-space probe saved by a clever hack
. | 27 | 5 | [
{
"comment_id": "6638132",
"author": "CityZen",
"timestamp": "2023-05-02T02:09:23",
"content": "Just ask ChatGPT for an answer.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "6638136",
"author": "RobHeffo",
"timestamp": "2023-05-02T02:39:43",... | 1,760,372,313.89938 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2023/05/01/squeeze-over-a-minute-of-movie-filming-onto-a-35mm-still-cartridge/ | Squeeze Over A Minute Of Movie Filming Onto A 35mm Still Cartridge | Jenny List | [
"classic hacks"
] | [
"3.5mm",
"8mm",
"movie camera"
] | There’s an allure to shooting film in the digital age which isn’t quite satisfied by digital filters for your smartphone camera. Aside from the technical challenge of working with a medium limited in sensitivity compared to its electronic replacement there are aesthetic reasons for wanting to shoot with particular lenses not found on any modern cameras. Sadly though, movie film in formats such as Super 8 is expensive to buy and even more expensive to develop.
It’s a problem [Blaž Semprimožnik] addressed with
his Okto 35 camera
, a unique design that fits a minute and 7 seconds of 8mm-like movie filming onto a much cheaper roll of 35mm still camera film. How does it achieve this feat? By splitting the width of the film into four parallel tracks of 8mm-sized frames.
The camera is a 3D printed design, with all mechanical functions performed by stepper motors to avoid the complex gear trains that would have been found in cameras from the home movie heyday. Each frame advance is a single sprocket hole on the 35mm film, and the track selection is performed automatically by moving the C-mount lens assembly sideways.
The result is a camera which is definitely unconventional, but which delivers something very close to that 8mm experience at a much lower cost per frame. There’s no reflex viewfinder or through-the-lens light metering, but since this is a camera likely to be used by enthusiasts rather than by 1970s consumers we’re guessing this won’t be a problem for most users.
There doesn’t appear to be anything in the way of downloadable STL files or other resources, probably because there’s a possibility he might put the camera into limited production. For the amount of work that he’s evidently put in we wish him luck, and given that the bench on which this is being written has more than one 8mm camera on it, we’re even slightly tempted by one. You might be too, after you’ve watched the video below the break.
This is a novel approach to a 35mm movie camera for still film cartridges, but
it’s by no means the first
. Previous ones we’ve seen have been full-frame designs though,
capturing only a few seconds per roll
. | 14 | 10 | [
{
"comment_id": "6638109",
"author": "w",
"timestamp": "2023-05-01T23:24:53",
"content": "I have 800′ of PLUS-X that would enjoy this. :)",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "6638111",
"author": "David Walker",
"timestamp": "2023-05-01T23:45:... | 1,760,372,314.029968 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2023/05/01/cocoa-press-chocolate-3d-printer-offered-as-diy-kit/ | Cocoa Press Chocolate 3D Printer Offered As DIY Kit | Tom Nardi | [
"3d Printer hacks"
] | [
"chocolate 3d printer",
"Cocoa Press",
"extruder",
"food printer",
"paste extruder"
] | Ultimately, the goal of Hackaday is to shine a light on the incredible projects coming from the hardware hacking community. In the vast majority of cases, said projects end up being one-off creations — a clever solution that solved a specific problem for the creator, which may or may not be directly applicable to anyone else. But occasionally, perhaps one in every few thousand projects, we see an idea that’s compelling enough to become a commercial product.
Today, we’re happy to add the Cocoa Press to that list. Creator
[Ellie Weinstein] has recently unveiled a commercialized version
of the chocolate 3D printer she’s been working on for several years, and true to the maker spirit, it’s being offered as a DIY kit. You can currently put a $100 USD deposit on the final product, which is expected to ship before the end of the year. Assembly time is estimated to be around 10 hours and no previous experience with building 3D printers is required, though we’re sure it wouldn’t hurt.
We
first came across the Cocoa Press back in 2018
, when we ran into it at the World Maker Faire in New York City. That original printer, clad in plywood and festooned with pipes and wires, bears little resemblance to the compact and sleek unit [Ellie] is selling now. But the core idea remains the same — pressure is applied to a syringe filled with warmed chocolate (or potentially other foodstuffs) to smoothly extrude a bead of deliciousness onto the printer’s bed.
The Cocoa Press prototype in 2018
The 2018 version used compressed air to force the chocolate out of the nozzle, while the final hardware has switched to a more conventional leadscrew and stepper motor arrangement. Also gone is the complex liquid cooling system used on the prototype. By keeping the chocolate
just
warm enough to smoothly extrude through the printer’s 0.8 mm nozzle, the new Cocoa Press doesn’t need any cooling at all. Once the chocolate touches the non-heated bed surface it cools and solidifies rapidly.
The Cocoa Press kit is based on the Voron 0.1 design, and uses the ever-popular Marlin firmware, so we’re optimistic about the ability to modify and repair the machine going forward. It’s also fully compatible with popular open source slicers such as PrusaSlicer, so there’s no worries about getting burned with a chocolate-printing-as-a-service contract in the future. There’s no material lock-in either; while the machine has been designed around a specific blend of chocolate, [Ellie] says there’s nothing stopping you from using your own mix.
Compared to the
evolved version of the printer we saw during the 2019 Philadelphia Maker Faire
, we’re impressed with how small the final product is. The extruder is still far larger than you’d see on a traditional FDM desktop machine, but there’s really no way around that given the system’s design. Trying to pump molten chocolate from a tank located elsewhere on the machine would be a nightmare, so the syringe inside the extruder needs to hold as much material as possible. In this case, that’s 70 grams.
If you’d like to see more of the nuts and bolts of the Cocoa Press kit, check out the walk-through [Ellie] did with [MandicReally] below. We’re eager to see these machines get in the hands of makers, as the
ability to create edible 3D prints
is one of those technologies that has seemed perennially out of reach for hobbyists. | 19 | 8 | [
{
"comment_id": "6638074",
"author": "Ergotron",
"timestamp": "2023-05-01T21:36:15",
"content": "Been very cool to see this printer develop over the years, wish them luck. Seems to be this could print all kinds of pastes, so should be interesting to see what kind of aps people can come up with once ... | 1,760,372,313.961094 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2023/05/01/op-amp-challenge-an-op-amp-buck-regulator/ | Op Amp Challenge: An Op-Amp Buck Regulator | Jenny List | [
"contests",
"hardware"
] | [
"buck converter",
"Op Amp Challenge",
"op-amp",
"pwm"
] | Switching regulators have delivered such convenience and efficiency compared to their linear siblings, that it’s now becoming rare to see an old-style three-terminal regulator. Modern designs have integrated to such an extent that for many of us the inner workings remain something of a mystery. It’s still possible to make switching regulators from first principles though, which is what [Aaron Lager] has done by
designing a buck regulator from a quad op-amp IC
,
It’s an entry in our Op Amp Challenge and it appears to be a work in progress, but the design is solid enough. We’re no fans of the schematic style of representing an op-amp chip as a rectangle rather than individual op-amps, but it’s simply a PWM generator with a final op-amp used as a driver for the usual diode-inductor-capacitor network. We’re guessing that the op-amp driver won’t make this the most powerful of switchers, but in this case that’s hardly the point. Build this if you’re interested in taking an op-amp out of its normal sphere, or if you’re interested in the workings of a buck converter.
Need more in the way of switching regulators from first principles?
We’ve got you covered,
with the ultimate regulator kit of parts, the
Fairchild UA723
. | 10 | 5 | [
{
"comment_id": "6638041",
"author": "Murray",
"timestamp": "2023-05-01T19:48:31",
"content": "I’m not sure those flyback diodes are required. The op amp would have a puh pull output, allowing for a low performance synchronous converter.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
... | 1,760,372,314.284966 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2023/05/01/my-great-great-grandad-the-engineer-who-invented-a-coffee-pot/ | My Great-Great-Grandad, The Engineer Who Invented A Coffee Pot | Jenny List | [
"Hackaday Columns",
"home hacks",
"Slider"
] | [
"coffee",
"napier",
"vacuum coffee pot"
] | In the study of genealogy it’s common to find people who will go to great lengths involving tenuous cross-links to establish royalty or famous figures such as George Washington or William Shakespeare in their family tree. There’s no royal blood and little in the way of fame to be found in my family tree, but I do have someone I find extremely interesting. One of my great-great-grandfathers was a Scottish engineer called
James R Napier
, and though his Wikipedia entry hasn’t caught up with this contribution to 1840s technology, he was the inventor of
the vacuum coffee pot
.
He was born in Glasgow in 1821 and was the son of a successful shipbuilder, Robert Napier, into whose business he followed once he’d received his education. He’s probably most well known today for his work in nautical engineering and for inventing
Napier’s Diagram
, a method for computing magnetic deviance on compass readings, but he was also a prolific engineer and author whose name crops up in fields as diverse as
air engines
,
weights and measures
,
drying timber
, and even
the analysis of some dodgy wine
. The coffee percolator was something of a side project for him, and for us it’s one of those pieces of family lore that’s been passed down the generations. It seems he was pretty proud of it, though he never took the trouble to patent it and and thus it was left to others to profit from that particular invention.
Vacuum Coffee Pots: Impressive, But Slooow
Just what is a vacuum coffee pot, and what makes it special? The answer lies in the temperature at which it infuses the coffee. We take for granted our fancy coffee machinery here in the 21st century, but a century and a half ago the making of coffee was a much simpler and less exact process. Making coffee by simply boiling grounds in water can burn it, imparting bitter flavours, and thus at the time a machine that could make a better cup was seen as of some importance.
A Napier style vacuum coffee pot. Daderot,
CC0
.
The Napier coffee pot has two vessels, one of which is sealed save for a tube that passes from near its base into the bottom of the other which is open to the atmosphere. The sealed vessel is filled with water and heated, and the second is filled with coffee grounds. As the water gets hot, it produces water vapour that slowly displaces the hot water through the tube into the coffee grounds. Eventually nearly all the water has been pushed out, at which point the heat is removed and the device’s party piece performance happens. The remaining water vapour condenses, producing a vacuum that quickly and noisily sucks the coffee back into the first vessel. There is usually a gauze filter on the tube to prevent the grounds being sucked through with the liquid.
The key to the process is that the water touching the grounds never boils, and thus the coffee never reaches a temperature at which it degrades. James R’s original pot had two separate vessels side-by-side, but it’s more normal to see them today with one vessel atop the other. A few years ago I bought my parents
a Bodum vacuum coffee pot
because of the family association, and while I can say that it made a very nice cup of coffee the whole process was a bit of a tedious performance once the novelty had worn off.
As an engineer I am fascinated by my ancestor’s work, and while my field of electronics would have been unknown to him in the 1850s, I’m sure had he been alive in this era he’d have been equally at home with the tools on my bench. Perhaps the most interesting reflection from researching this piece comes not from his work though, but from considering the difference of opportunity between the two centuries.
If I were to assemble all my great-great grandparents in the same room they would be a diverse group, alongside the engineer would among others be a policeman, at least one textile worker, a shopkeeper, and a few farm workers, from various corners of the British Isles. Several of their children and grandchildren became engineers too, I carry the concentrated engineering DNA of more than one family, but they were better able to realise that potential because of the increased access to education that came with the twentieth century. As I savour my coffee I realise that maybe my view of technological advancement has overlooked the obvious, before all the semiconductors and computers came the opportunity for advancement based on achievement rather than wealth or patronage.
Coffee cup: Julius Schorzman,
CC BY-SA 2.0
. | 34 | 18 | [
{
"comment_id": "6637965",
"author": "some guy",
"timestamp": "2023-05-01T17:07:47",
"content": "But did he knew about RFC 2324?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "6637970",
"author": "Manfred",
"timestamp": "2023-05-01T17:15:52",
"cont... | 1,760,372,314.66866 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2023/05/01/hackaday-prize-2023-explore-the-basics-of-neuroscience-with-this-electronic-neuron/ | Hackaday Prize 2023: Explore The Basics Of Neuroscience With This Electronic Neuron | Robin Kearey | [
"Artificial Intelligence",
"Science",
"The Hackaday Prize"
] | [
"2023 Hackaday Prize",
"artificial neural network",
"neuron",
"neuroscience",
"op amps"
] | Brains are the most complex systems in the universe, but their basic building blocks are surprisingly simple — the complexity arises from billions of neurons, axons and synapses working together. Simulating an entire brain therefore requires vast computing resources, but if it’s just a few cells you’re interested in, you don’t need much: a handful of op-amps and transistors will do the job, as [Sebastian Billaudelle] has demonstrated. He has designed
an electronic neuron called Lu.i
that does everything a real neuron does, in a convenient package suitable for educational use.
[Sebastian]’s neuron implements what’s known as the
leaky integrate-and-fire model
, first proposed by [Louis Lapicque] as a simple model for a neuron’s behavior. Basically, the neuron acts as an integrator that stores all incoming charge in a capacitor and generates a spiky output signal once its voltage reaches a certain threshold level. The capacitor is slowly discharged however, which means the neuron will only “fire” when it gets a strong enough input signal.
A couple of MCP6004 op-amps implement this model, with an LM339 comparator acting as the threshold detector. The neuron’s inputs are generated by electronic synapses made from logic-level MOSFETS. These circuits route signals between different neurons and can be manually set to either source or sink current, thereby increasing or decreasing the neuron’s voltage level.
All of this is built onto a neat purple PCB in the shape of a nerve cell, with external connections on the tips of its dendrites. The neuron’s internal state is made visible by an LED bar graph, giving the user an immediate feel for what’s going on inside the network. Multiple neurons can be connected together to form reasonably complex networks that can implement things like oscillators or logic functions, examples of which are shown on
the project’s GitHub page
.
The Lu.i project is a great way to teach the basics of neuroscience, turning dry differential equations into a neat display of signals racing around a network. Neurons are
fascinating things
that we’re
learning more about every day
, enabling things like
brain-computer interfaces
and
neuromorphic computing
.
The
Hackaday
Prize 2023
is Sponsored by: | 2 | 1 | [
{
"comment_id": "6637977",
"author": "Artenz",
"timestamp": "2023-05-01T17:21:09",
"content": "> Brains are the most complex systems in the universe,They may be the most complex systems in this tiny little corner of the universe….",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
... | 1,760,372,314.233079 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2023/05/01/your-guide-to-using-amazons-sidewalk-network-for-the-internet-of-things/ | Your Guide To Using Amazon’s Sidewalk Network For The Internet Of Things | Lewin Day | [
"Featured",
"Interest",
"internet hacks",
"Original Art",
"Slider"
] | [
"amazon",
"Amazon Alexa",
"Amazon Sidewalk",
"internet of things"
] | As the Internet of Things became a mainstream reality, it raised an interesting point about connectivity. We quickly learned it wasn’t ideal to have every light bulb, toaster, and kettle buzzing away on our main WiFi networks. Nor was it practical to sign up for a cellular data plan for every tracker tag or remote sensor we wanted to use.
To solve this issue, various tech companies have developed their own low-power mesh networking solutions. Amazon’s Sidewalk network is one of the widest spread in the US.
Now, it’s opening it up for wider use beyond its own products, and you can get in on the action.
See You On The Sidewalk
Devices like the Amazon Echo smart speaker already feature Sidewalk radios inside. These offer a mesh network to other Sidewalk-compatible devices, using customer’s internet connections as an uplink to the cloud. Credit: Amazon
Amazon’s Sidewalk is officially defined as a “low power wide area network,” or LPWAN. It’s not intended to deliver high-fidelity video or move masses of data quickly from Server A to User B. Instead, it’s designed to provide a trickle of internet connectivity for all those little devices that just need to get online to send a little data about the place. Current applications include letting the company’s Ring home surveillance devices send notifications even when their main WiFi connection is offline. Sidewalk is also used to keep Level smart locks communicating without the need for a battery-hungry WiFi connection, and for syncing certain brands of health trackers. The technology is currently only available in the US, having been launched in 2021. A further launch in the UK is likely, with Amazon likely to stick to the Sidewalk name over the more locally appropriate “Footpath” moniker.
The technology was initially developed by a startup called Iotera, which launched a Kickstarter back in 2014 for its Iota tracking device. Iotera was later acquired by Ring, which was itself acquired by Amazon. The basic concept behind the technology is simple. Devices like Amazon Echo smartspeakers act as gateways for the Sidewalk network. To perform their regular functions, they are connected to a home WiFi network. They then provide limited Internet access to other Amazon devices via Sidewalk. Bluetooth Low Energy is used for short range communication with Sidewalk devices. For longer distances, FSK techniques are used in the 900 MHz range, while LoRa is used to provide communication at the longest ranges albeit with the most limited throughput.
Owners of Amazon devices can switch off Sidewalk if so desired, but it’s typically enabled by default. Any given Sidewalk Bridge can offer a maximum bandwidth of 80 kbps to connected devices, and Amazon typically limits any one Bridge to using a maximum of 500 MB of bandwidth per month.
The general idea of Sidewalk is to use customer internet connections to create a broadly accessible mesh network in a way that’s seamless, invisible, and doesn’t bother anyone. Over 90% of the population of the United States is reportedly within the coverage area of Sidewalk. If your area isn’t, all you need to do is hook up an Amazon Echo to your home internet connection, and you’re all set.
Your Piece of The Sidewalk
Amazon has released a free test kit for developers that reports Sidewalk coverage in a given area. Credit: Amazon
Amazon has now released
free test kits
that let independent developers investigate the Sidewalk network. These consist of a small lozenge-shaped grey plastic device that can be charged in a small cradle. The program is intended to help developers determine the level of Sidewalk coverage in a given location. The device repeatedly pings its current location and available signal strength to an Amazon server, with data displayed in a web portal.
For those looking to build Sidewalk-compatible hardware, development kits are already available from companies like
Nordic Semiconductor
,
Silicon Labs
, and
Texas Instruments
. Connectivity modules are also available from
Quectel
to get devices online. On the cloud side of things, devices can be managed via AWS IoT Core for Amazon Sidewalk, a useful web interface based on Amazon Web Services. Currently, AWS is the only way to receive data from a Sidewalk device, though there’s nothing stopping developers offloading that data to another service for further processing or use.
Devices from third-party manufacturers are already hitting the market with Sidewalk compatibility. Everything from gas alarms to smart locks and home safety sensors are leveraging the low-power link. In many cases, it could enable a device to run on batteries where previously, the power demands of WiFi would have made such operation impractical.
Hardware and software development kits are already available for working with the Sidewalk network. Most offer connectivity over BLE, FSK, and LoRa communications regimes. Credit: TI
If you’re working on any kind of IoT device that could benefit from low-power internet connectivity, it may be worthwhile investigating Sidewalk. It comes with the caveat that functionality is tied into Amazon’s services, and that at present, the network is only available in the US. For some products, that won’t be a problem. For others, the flexibility and openness of traditional WiFi and Bluetooth connections may be more important. In any case, expect similar mesh networks to spring up from Amazon’s competitors as the Internet of Things goes from fad to foregone conclusion. | 61 | 23 | [
{
"comment_id": "6637909",
"author": "Ostracus",
"timestamp": "2023-05-01T14:26:45",
"content": "I think it’s the not getting permission that was problematic. Things like Apple airtags demonstrates the power of decentralized nodes working together.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"repli... | 1,760,372,314.58994 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2023/05/01/patent-spat-leaves-dji-owing-textron-279m/ | Patent Spat Leaves DJI Owing Textron $279M | Navarre Bartz | [
"drone hacks",
"News"
] | [
"DJI",
"drone",
"helicopter",
"intellectual property",
"patent law",
"patents",
"Textron"
] | Patents are the murky waters where technical jargon and legalese meet, and in this vast grey area of interpretation,
DJI now owes Textron $279M
.
At issue in the case
were two patents issued to Textron (#
8,014,909
and #
9,162,752
) regarding aircraft control systems for relative positioning to other vehicles and automatic hovering. The jury found that Textron’s intellectual property (IP) had been infringed and that damages amounted to $279M. DJI asserts that Textron’s patents are not valid and will appeal the decision. Appeals in patent trials are
handled by the Federal Circuit
and can be kicked up to the US Supreme Court, so don’t expect a final decision in the case anytime soon.
We’re not lawyers, so we won’t comment on the merits of the case, but, while it was a jury trial, it was one of many cases decided in the court of Judge Alan Albright, who has been the
focus of scrutiny
despite efforts to
assign fewer cases to his docket
amid wider efforts to
stymie venue shopping
in patent cases. Despite these efforts, the Western District of Texas is such a popular venue for patent cases that
Berkeley offers a CEU
on going to trial in Waco.
If you’re curious about more IP shenanigans, checkout the
Honda mass takedown
, the
legality of making something similar
, or why
E3D patents
some of their work. | 46 | 16 | [
{
"comment_id": "6637863",
"author": "cyberteque",
"timestamp": "2023-05-01T11:14:28",
"content": "so where does Ardupilot stand??those 2 patents would seem to cover any kind of AHRS system",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "6638354",
"au... | 1,760,372,314.37597 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2023/05/01/hinges-live-inside-3d-prints/ | Hinges Live Inside 3D Prints | Bryan Cockfield | [
"3d Printer hacks",
"Parts"
] | [
"3d printing",
"design",
"hinge",
"kerf bending",
"living hinge",
"materials",
"plastic",
"stress"
] | Since desktop 3D printers have become more common, we’ve seen dramatic shifts in all kinds of areas such as rapid prototyping, antique restoration, mass production of consumer goods, or even household repairs that might not have been possible otherwise. There are a lot of unique manufacturing methods that can be explored in depth with a 3D printer as well, and [Slant 3D] demonstrates how
one such method known as the living hinge
can be created with this revolutionary new tool.
Living hinges, unlike a metal hinge you might pick up at a hardware store, are integrated into the design of the part and made of the same material. Typically found in plastic containers, they allow for flexibility while keeping parts count and cost low. The major downside is that they create stresses in the materials when used, so their lifespan is finite. But there are a number of ways to extend their life, albeit with a few trade-offs.
The first note is to make sure that you’re using the right kind of plastic, but after that’s taken care of [Slant 3D] builds a few flexible parts starting with longer circular-shaped living hinge which allows greater range of motion and distributes the forces across a wider area, at a cost of greater used space and increased complexity. A few other types of living hinges are shown to use less space in some areas, but make the hinges only suitable for use in other narrower applications.
One of the more interesting living hinges he demonstrates is one that’s more commonly seen in woodworking, known there as a kerf bend. By removing strips of material from a sheet, the entire sheet can be rotated around the cuts. In woodworking this is often done by subtracting material
with a CNC machine
or
a laser cutter
, but in 3D printing the voids can simply be designed into the part. | 5 | 3 | [
{
"comment_id": "6637853",
"author": "paulvdh",
"timestamp": "2023-05-01T10:07:16",
"content": "It’s a nice overview, some remarks:The toothed look (@01:57) does not work at all. The only thing it does is remove the “thicker parts” from the hinge parts. that it seems more flexible is because the thi... | 1,760,372,314.717195 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2023/04/30/liquid-neural-networks-do-more-with-less/ | Liquid Neural Networks Do More With Less | Joseph Long | [
"Artificial Intelligence"
] | [
"artifical intelligence",
"artificial neural network",
"biomorphic",
"efficiency"
] | [Ramin Hasani] and colleague [Mathias Lechner] have been working with a new type of Artificial Neural Network called Liquid Neural Networks, and
presented some of the exciting results at a recent TEDxMIT
.
Liquid neural networks are inspired by biological neurons to implement algorithms that remain adaptable even after training. [Hasani] demonstrates a machine vision system that steers a car to perform lane keeping with the use of a liquid neural network. The system performs quite well using only 19 neurons, which is profoundly fewer than the typically large model intelligence systems we’ve come to expect. Furthermore, an attention map helps us visualize that the system seems to attend to particular aspects of the visual field quite similar to a human driver’s behavior.
[Mathias Lechner] and [Ramin Hasani]
The typical scaling law of neural networks suggests that accuracy is improved with larger models, which is to say, more neurons. Liquid neural networks may break this law to show that scale is not the whole story. A smaller model can be computed more efficiently. Also, a compact model can improve accountability since decision activity is more readily located within the network. Surprisingly though, liquid neural network performance can also improve generalization, robustness, and fairness.
A liquid neural network can implement synaptic weights using nonlinear probabilities instead of simple scalar values. The synaptic connections and response times can adapt based on sensory inputs to more flexibly react to perturbations in the natural environment.
We should probably expect to see the operational gap between biological neural networks and artificial neural networks continue to close and blur. We’ve previously presented on wetware examples of
building neural networks with actual neurons
and ever advancing
brain-computer interfaces
. | 14 | 7 | [
{
"comment_id": "6637824",
"author": "Artenz",
"timestamp": "2023-05-01T08:09:39",
"content": "How do you watch 1 million pixels with 19 neurons?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "6637832",
"author": "Dude",
"timestamp": "2023-05... | 1,760,372,314.774973 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2023/04/30/high-voltage-power-supply-from-usb/ | High Voltage Power Supply From USB | Bryan Cockfield | [
"High Voltage"
] | [
"300V",
"dc",
"electrophoresis",
"electrowetting",
"high voltage",
"Isolation",
"measurement",
"power supply",
"safety",
"usb"
] | Those who work in different spaces may have different definitions of the term “high voltage”. For someone working on the GPIO pins of a Raspberry Pi it might be as little as 5 volts, someone working on a Tesla coil might consider that to be around 20 kV, and an electrical line worker might not reference something as HV until 115 kV. What we could perhaps all agree on, though, is that getting 300 volts out of a USB power supply is certainly a “high voltage” we wouldn’t normally expect to see in that kind of context, but [Aylo6061]
needed just such a power supply and was eventually able to create one
.
In this case, the high voltages will eventually be used for electrophoresis or electrowetting. But before getting there, [Aylo6061] has built one of the safest looking circuits we’ve seen in recent memory. Every high voltage part is hidden behind double insulation, and there is complete isolation between the high and low voltage sides thanks to a flyback converter. This has the benefit of a floating ground which reduces the risk of accidental shock. This does cause some challenges though, as voltage sensing on the high side is difficult while maintaining isolation, so some clever tricks were implemented to maintain the correct target output voltage.
The control circuitry is based around an RP2040 chip and is impressive in its own right, with USB isolation for the data lines as well. Additionally the project code can be found
at its GitHub page
. Thanks to a part shortage, [Aylo6061] dedicated an entire core of the microprocessor to decoding digital data from the high voltage sensor circuitry. For something with a little less refinement, less safety, and a much higher voltage output, though, take a look at
this power supply
which tops its output voltage around 30 kV. | 14 | 4 | [
{
"comment_id": "6637785",
"author": "tequals0",
"timestamp": "2023-05-01T03:27:37",
"content": "an update: I had to resort to PIO to read the ADC…see the blog if you are interested!",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "6637793",
"author": ... | 1,760,372,314.830373 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2023/04/30/hackaday-links-april-30-2023/ | Hackaday Links: April 30, 2023 | Dan Maloney | [
"Hackaday Columns",
"Hackaday links"
] | [
"binary",
"decimal",
"faa",
"hackaday links",
"retrocomputer",
"SpaceX",
"starship",
"troy ounce",
"UAP",
"UFO",
"VCF",
"vintage",
"WAGO",
"wire nuts"
] | Cloudy with a chance of concrete? The “success” of last week’s brief but eventful Starship launch has apparently raised some regulatory eyebrows, with the Federal Aviation Administration
launching an investigation
into the destruction wrought by the mighty rocket. And it’s not just the hapless Dodge Caravan that they’re concerned with — although we found
some fantastic POV footage
that shows the kill shot as well as close-ups of the results — but also the damage rained down upon residents around the Boca Chica launch complex. Tons of concrete and rebar were excavated by the 33 Raptor engines during the launch and sent in all directions, reportedly landing up to 6 miles (10 kilometers) from the pad. What’s worse, a lot of debris ended up on beaches that are home to endangered species, which has the Sierra Club also taking an interest. The FAA has apparently nixed any launches from the Texas facility until they complete their investigation.
If you’re worried about — or praying for — an alien invasion, you can relax:
the US government says UFOs aren’t aliens
. But that doesn’t mean anyone knows what they actually are, at least according to Dr. Sean Kirkpatrick, who as the Pentagon’s Director of the All-Domain Anomaly Resolution Office has the coolest job title in government. His testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee last week made it pretty clear that the vast majority of UFOs, or UAP as they prefer to call them — the “A” is for “Anomolous” rather than “Aerial,” which covers the non-flying phenomena — can be boiled down to the usual “swamp gas and Venus” explanations. But not all of them; he included an example in his testimony of
a spherical UAP
captured by “electro-optical sensors” that defies analysis. A full report is due later in the summer, so we’ll be keen to see what they’ve got to say.
Have you ever wondered who invented binary? We’d always assumed it was someone with the misfortune to lose 80% of their fingers, but apparently not, according to
this short paper
. The author claims it was a fellow named Thomas Harriot, who left manuscripts in the early 1600s fiddling with binary notation with experiments on the specific gravity of various types of wine. As an alchemist, he used the troy system of measurements, which breaks an ounce down into 480 grains and has customary divisions of 1/2, 1/4, 1/8, and 1/16. He must have gotten interested in the whole powers-of-two thing, because he wrote out the first 16 binary numbers, and tried his hand at a couple of binary multiplication problems. It’s kind of neat to think that the old-school “rods per hogshead” measuring system would do something that a decimal-based system couldn’t, but there it is.
Apparently it’s festival season, specifically vintage computer festivals, which seem to be cropping up all over. Our own
Tom Nardi had quite a time at VCF East
a couple of weekends back, and now we hear of
VCF Southwest
, to be held June 23 to 25 in Dallas. Looks like it’ll be a pretty cool show, so stop by if you’re in the area. And across the pond we have
RetroTechUK
coming up, on May 21 in Coventry. That also looks like a pretty big deal, so get your tickets early. And please report back if you go — we love hearing boots-on-the-ground reports from events like these.
Psst. Hey, kid — wanna try some Wagos? If you’ve never tried these “Euro-style” lever lock connectors,
Silver Cymbal over on YouTube
says that now’s your chance, because you can get a free sample right from the company. You just have to send
fill out a form
and fork over the usual information, and they’ll send you a small sample — probably one — of whichever type of the 221 Series connectors you want. Just remember, though — the first one’s free, and then they jack up the price. That’s how they get you hooked. | 17 | 8 | [
{
"comment_id": "6637740",
"author": "Eric",
"timestamp": "2023-04-30T23:26:58",
"content": "“**Due to the overwhelming response from our friends at Silver Cymbal and the ever-increasing popularity of our 221 products, we need to catch our breath for a moment and pause our free sample program tempor... | 1,760,372,314.88701 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2023/04/29/hackaday-prize-2023-tiny-rc-aircraft-built-using-foam-and-esp12/ | Hackaday Prize 2023: Tiny RC Aircraft Built Using Foam And ESP12 | Lewin Day | [
"The Hackaday Prize",
"Toy Hacks"
] | [
"2023 Hackaday Prize",
"motor controller",
"radio control",
"radio control plane",
"rc",
"rc plane",
"stem"
] | Once upon a time, a radio controlled plane was a hefty and complex thing. They required small nitro engines, support equipment, and relatively heavy RC electronics. Times have changed since then,
as this lightweight RC build from [Ravi Butani] demonstrates.
The body of the plane is lightweight foam, and can be assembled in two ways. There’s a relatively conventional layout, using a main wing, tailplane, and rudder, or a pusher model with the main wing at the rear and a canard up front. The open hardware electronics package, which [Ravi] calls VIMANA, consists of an ESP12 module with a pair of MOSFETs to act as two independent motor drivers — allowing the plane to be flown and steered with differential thrust.
For more advanced flight control, it can also command a pair of servos to control ailerons, a rudder, canards, or elevons, depending on configuration. There’s also potential to install an IMU to set the plane up with flight stabilization routines.
Thanks to the low-cost of the VIMANA board, [Ravi] hopes it can be used in STEM education programs. He notes that it’s not limited just to aircraft, and could be used for other motorized projects such as boats and cars. We’ve featured
an early version of his work before
, but the project has come a long way since then.
The
Hackaday
Prize 2023
is Sponsored by: | 13 | 6 | [
{
"comment_id": "6637294",
"author": "sword",
"timestamp": "2023-04-30T01:22:04",
"content": "Really cool",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "6637407",
"author": "Joshua",
"timestamp": "2023-04-30T03:52:40",
"content": "Before RC planes ... | 1,760,372,314.93674 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2023/04/29/the-worlds-first-agricultural-right-to-repair-law/ | The World’s First Agricultural Right To Repair Law | Jenny List | [
"green hacks",
"News",
"Repair Hacks"
] | [
"drm",
"john deere",
"right to repair"
] | Long time readers will know that occasionally we mix up our usual subject matter with a dash of farm equipment. Usually the yellow and green variants that come from John Deere, as the agricultural manufacturer has become the poster child for all that is wrong in the fight for the right to repair. An old Deere is worth more than a nearly new one in many places, because for several years now their models have had all their parts locked down by DRM technologies such that only their own fitters can replace them. Now after a long legal fight involving many parties, the repair and parts company iFixit sound justifiably pleased as they announce
the world’s first agricultural right to repair law being passed in the US state of Colorado
. (
Nitter
)
This may sound like a small victory, and it will no doubt be followed by further rearguard actions from the industry as similar laws are tabled in other states. But in fact as we read it, with this law in place the game is de facto up for the tractor makers. Once they are required to release any access codes for the Coloradans those same codes will by extension be available to any other farmers, and though we’re guessing they won’t do this, they would be best advised to give up on the whole DRM idea and concentrate instead on making better tractors to fix their by-now-damaged brands.
It’s exciting news for everybody as it proves that right-to-repair legislation is possible, however since this applies only to agricultural machinery the battle is by no means over. Only when all machines and devices have the same protection can we truly be said to have achieved the right to repair.
We’ve reported on this story for a long time,
here’s a previous piece of legislation tried in another state. | 29 | 8 | [
{
"comment_id": "6637109",
"author": "Hirudinea",
"timestamp": "2023-04-29T21:55:57",
"content": "If I can’t fix it I don’t own it and if I bought it I damn well own it!",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "6637136",
"author": "The Gambler",
... | 1,760,372,315.000206 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2023/04/29/building-a-wifi-picture-frame-with-an-eink-display/ | Building A WiFi Picture Frame With An EInk Display | Lewin Day | [
"Art",
"Microcontrollers"
] | [
"e-ink display",
"eink",
"picture frame",
"waveshare",
"wifi picture frame"
] | LCD photo frames never really caught on — by emitting light, they didn’t seamlessly blend in with a home’s decor in the way printed photos do. [Sprite_tm] decided to see if a color e-Ink screen could do any better,
and whipped up a WiFi-enabled photo frame using a Waveshare display.
The part in question is a 5.65-inch display with 640 x 448 resolution, and is capable of displaying seven colors. It’s not designed to display photorealistic images, so much as display simple graphics with block colors. However, with some dithering, [Sprite_tm] suspected it might do an okay job. An algorithm that uses Floyd-Steinberg diffusion and the CIEDE2000 color space takes regular RGB images and breaks them down into dithered images that are displayed using the screen’s 7 available colors.
The build relies on an ESP32-C3, which drives the display and fetches new images daily over WiFi. Thanks to the e-Ink screen, which uses zero power when not updating, the whole setup runs off two AA batteries and a Natlinear LN2266 boost converter.
There are some limitations; the screen’s color space is altogether quite limited, and images don’t look very high-fidelity in such low resolution. However, it does an able job of displaying photos for a device that was never designed to do so. It looks rather handsome all wrapped up as a 3D printed picture frame, and [Sprite_tm]’s monkey test photos are very cute.
Files are
on GitHub
for those that wish to roll their own. We’ve seen similar works before, like this
e-Ink wall-hanging newspaper display
that keeps up with the times. If you’ve got your own neat e-ink build,
hit us up on the tipsline! | 7 | 5 | [
{
"comment_id": "6636925",
"author": "Chad",
"timestamp": "2023-04-29T18:37:22",
"content": "Interesting read. I gotta try this when eink tech gets cheap or when I start seeing e readers at thrift stores lol",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "66370... | 1,760,372,315.043462 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2023/04/29/thinking-inside-the-box/ | Thinking Inside The Box | Elliot Williams | [
"News",
"Rants",
"Space"
] | [
"Artemis",
"moon",
"newsletter",
"rocket",
"SpaceX"
] | Last week, I wrote about NASA’s technology demonstrator projects,
and how they’ve been runaway successes
– both the Mars rovers and the current copter came from such experimental beginnings. I argued that letting some spirit of experimentation into an organization like NASA is probably very fruitful from time to time.
And then a few days later, we saw SpaceX blow up a rocket and completely shred its launch platform in the process. Or maybe it was the other way around, because it looks like the concrete thrown up by the exhaust may have run into the engines, causing the damage that would lead to the vehicle spinning out of control. SpaceX was already working on an alternative launch pad using water-cooled steel, but it ran what it had. They’re calling the mission a success because of what they learned, but it’s clearly a qualified success. They’ll rebuild and try again.
In comparison, the other US-funded rocket run by Boeing,
the SLS
suffered years of delays, cost tremendous amounts of money, and has half the lift of SpaceX’s Super Heavy. But it made it to space. Science was done,
many of the CubeSats onboard got launched
, the unmanned capsule orbited the moon, and splashed down safely back on earth. They weren’t particularly taking any big risks, but they got the job done.
The lore around SpaceX is that they’re failing forward to success. And it’s certainly true that they’ve got their Falcon 9 platform down to a routine, at a lower cost per launch than was ever before possible, and that their pace has entirely shaken up the conservative space industry. They’ll probably get there with their Starship / Super Heavy too. SLS was an old-school rocket, and they had boring old flame diverters on their launch pad, which means that SLS will never take off from Mars. On the other hand, one of the two systems has put a payload around the Moon.
Maybe there’s something to be said for thinking inside the box from time to time as well?
This article is part of the Hackaday.com newsletter, delivered every seven days for each of the last 200+ weeks. It also includes our favorite articles from the last seven days that you can see on
the web version of the newsletter
.
Want this type of article to hit your inbox every Friday morning?
You should sign up
! | 144 | 12 | [
{
"comment_id": "6636805",
"author": "Dude",
"timestamp": "2023-04-29T14:07:31",
"content": ">In comparison, the other US-funded rocket run by Boeing, the SLS suffered years of delays, cost tremendous amounts of money, and has half the lift of SpaceX’s Super Heavy. But it made it to space.Gee, it’s ... | 1,760,372,315.418553 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2023/04/29/alternatives-to-pins-and-holes-for-3d-printed-assemblies/ | Alternatives To Pins And Holes For 3D Printed Assemblies | Lewin Day | [
"3d Printer hacks"
] | [
"3d print",
"3d printing",
"assembly"
] | When we have two 3D printed parts that need to fit together, many of us rely on pins and holes to locate them and fix them together. [Slant 3D] has explored some alternative ideas in this area
that may open up new avenues for your own designs.
Their first idea was to simply chamfer the pins and holes. This allows the object to be printed in a different orientations without compromising the fit. It also makes the features less brittle and creates a broader surface for gluing. Another alternative is using fins and slots, which again add robustness compared to flimsy pins. By chamfering the edges of the fins, they can be printed vertically for good strength and easy location without the need for support material.
Neither option requires much extra fuss compared to typical pin-and-hole designs. Plus, both are far less likely to snap off and ruin your day. Be honest, we’ve all been there. Meanwhile,
consider adding folded techniques to your repertoire, too. | 35 | 11 | [
{
"comment_id": "6636788",
"author": "Lionel Brits",
"timestamp": "2023-04-29T12:01:47",
"content": "I personally prefer nesting-type location features like gridfinity containers use.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "6636789",
"author": "Fran... | 1,760,372,315.241486 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2023/04/29/biomimetic-building-facades-to-reduce-hvac-loads/ | Biomimetic Building Facades To Reduce HVAC Loads | Navarre Bartz | [
"Science"
] | [
"architecture",
"biomimetic",
"biomimicry",
"smart window"
] | Buildings currently consume about 50% of the world’s electricity, so finding ways to reduce the loads they place on the grid can save money and reduce carbon emissions. Scientists at the University of Toronto have developed an
“optofluidic” system for tuning light
coming into a building.
The researchers devised a
biomimetic
system inspired by the multi-layered skins of squid and chameleons for active camouflage to be able to actively control light intensity, spectrum, and scattering independently. While there are plenty of technologies that can regulate these properties, doing so independently has been too complicated a task for current
window shades
or
electrochromic
devices.
To make the prototype devices (15 × 15 × 2 cm), 3 mm PMMA sheets were stacked after millifluidic channels (1.5 mm deep and 6.35 mm wide) were CNC milled into the sheets. Fluids could be injected and removed by needles glued into the ends of the channels. By using different fluids in the channels, researchers were able to tune various aspects of the incoming light. Scaled up, one application of the system could be to keep buildings cooler on hot days without keeping out IR on colder days which is one disadvantage of static window coatings currently in use.
If you want to control some of the light going OUT of your windows, maybe you should try building this
smart LED curtain
instead? | 21 | 9 | [
{
"comment_id": "6636772",
"author": "Jan Helebrant 🦁 (@jhelebrant)",
"timestamp": "2023-04-29T09:34:32",
"content": "Just curious. Isn’t the majority of electricity consumption in the future linked to heating and air conditioning? I see two themes for the future – 1) construction of buildings with... | 1,760,372,315.474334 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2023/04/28/the-nuts-and-bolts-of-nuts-and-bolts/ | The Nuts And Bolts Of Nuts And Bolts | Dan Maloney | [
"Misc Hacks"
] | [
"bolt",
"joint",
"mechanical engineering",
"nut",
"preload",
"screw",
"shear",
"tension",
"thread",
"torque"
] | If you’re a mechanical engineer, the material covered in
this video on the basics of bolted joints
probably won’t cover any new ground. On the other hand, if you aren’t a mechanical engineer but still need to bring a little of that discipline to your projects, there’s a lot to learn here.
If there’s one takeaway lesson from [The Efficient Engineer]’s excellent examination of the strength of bolted joints, it’s the importance of preload. Preload is the tensile force created by tightening a bolt or a screw, which provides the clamping force that keeps the joined members together. That seems pretty self-obvious, but there’s more to the story, especially with joints that are subject to cycles or loading and unloading. Such joints tend to suffer from fatigue failure, but proper preloading on the bolts in such a joint mitigates fatigue failure because the bolts are only taking up a small fraction of the total cyclical force on the joint. In other words, make sure you pay attention to factory torque specs.
Speaking of torque, it was always a bit of a mystery to us how mechanical engineers specify torque. Luckily, [The Efficient Engineer] has an answer, and like most things in mechanical engineering, it boils down to the strength of materials. The rule of thumb is to apply enough torque to reach 70% of the yield strength of the bolt or screw, but there are plenty of variables to consider, including how the preload is measured. We picked up a couple of interesting tidbits in this department, like the use of ultrasonic inspection to determine how much a bolt stretches under preload, and the “turn-of-nut” method, which explains why some torquing procedures include adding an additional 30 or 40 degrees of rotation after reaching a specific torque. We also learned that the ISS docking system uses 16 motorized bolts to draw the joint between space station and spacecraft tight, and that each joint has a load cell to precisely measure the torque.
If you liked this look at nuts and bolts, you might want to check out
the mechanism that makes them work
. | 23 | 6 | [
{
"comment_id": "6636746",
"author": "Severe Tire Damage",
"timestamp": "2023-04-29T05:20:25",
"content": "An excellent mechanical engineer explained to me once that it isn’t the shearing of the bolt that is the issue (which I always had thought), but the clamping force of the bolt holding the two p... | 1,760,372,317.434934 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2023/04/28/building-a-receiver-with-the-progrock2-programmable-crystal/ | Building A Receiver With The ProgRock2 Programmable Crystal | Lewin Day | [
"Radio Hacks"
] | [
"amateur radio",
"crystal",
"ham radio",
"radio"
] | Crystals are key to a lot of radio designs. They act as a stable frequency source and ensure you’re listening to (or transmitting on) exactly the right bit of the radio spectrum. [Q26] decided to use the ProgRock2 “programmable crystal”
to build a receiver that could tune multiple frequencies without the usual traditional tuning circuitry.
The ProgRock2
is designed as a tiny PCB that can be dropped into a circuit to replace a traditional crystal. The oscillators onboard are programmable from 3.5KHz to 200 MHz, and can be GPS discliplined for accuracy. It’s programmable over a micro USB pot, and can be set to output 24 different frequencies, in eight banks of three. When a bank is selected, the three frequencies will be output on the Clock0, Clock1, and Clock2 pins.There was some confusion regarding the bank selection on the ProgRock2. It’s done by binary, with eight banks selected by grounding the BANK0, BANK1, and BANK2 pins. For example, grounding BANK2 and BANK0 would activate bank 5 (as 101 in binary equals 5). Once this was figured out, [Q26] was on top of things.
In his design, [Q26] hooked up the ProgRock2 into his receiver in place of the regular crystal. Frequency selection is performed by flipping three switches to select banks 0 to 7. It’s an easy way to flip between different frequencies accurately, and is of particular use for situations where you might only listen on a limited selection of amateur channels.
For precision use, we can definitely see the value of a “programmable crystal” oscillator like this. We’ve looked at the fate of
some major crystal manufacturers before, too
. Video after the break. | 11 | 5 | [
{
"comment_id": "6636728",
"author": "Bruce Perens K6BP",
"timestamp": "2023-04-29T02:17:14",
"content": "Most folks making new designs would just use the Sis5315A chip directly. These are nice for retrofit of a vintage radio where design is not necessary. Be aware of the technical limitations of mo... | 1,760,372,317.086647 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2023/04/28/soldering-station-designed-around-batteries/ | Soldering Station Designed Around Batteries | Bryan Cockfield | [
"Tool Hacks"
] | [
"3d printed",
"battery",
"battery pack",
"controller",
"freecad",
"power tools",
"soldering",
"tools"
] | Companies now are looking to secure revenue streams by sneakily locking customers into as many recurring services as possible. Subscription software, OS ecosystems, music streaming, and even food delivery companies all want to lock consumers in to these types of services. Battery-operated power tools are no different as there’s often a cycle of buying tools that fit one’s existing batteries, then buying replacement batteries, ad infinitum. As consumers we might prefer a more open standard but since this is not likely to happen any time soon, at least we can build our own tools that work with our power tool brand of choice
like this battery-powered soldering station
.
[Nelson] aka [wooddragon48] has a number of power tools and their associated batteries from a specific manufacturer, and while he’s a fan of this brand personally he’s looking to get a little bit more use out of these battery packs with this build. The soldering station is built around an inexpensive controller and wand which [Nelson] modeled in FreeCAD. With the model of the controller to work with, the next step was to design a 3D-printed enclosure for the controller which could snap on to one of his power tool batteries. A coiled wire-style wand holder is attached to the side and a recessed switch at the top rounds out the build to ensure that the soldering station isn’t accidentally switched on.
After a few prototypes the soldering station looks like it would fit right in with the other array of tools available for these battery packs. All of the CAD and 3D printing files are also available for anyone looking to build one of their own or his approach to designing other tools around these batteries. It certainly goes a long way to show that even though you might be somewhat locked in to a particular power tool brand, it’s at least possible to build other custom tools to make use of the batteries they work with. You can even use
portable battery packs like this to power something like an ebike, too
. | 19 | 7 | [
{
"comment_id": "6636703",
"author": "Clyde",
"timestamp": "2023-04-28T23:37:33",
"content": "Before you’re going to repurpose your not-cheap Milwaukee M18 batteries for hobby projects, PLEASE remember that the BMS of the M18 bricks does NOT monitor the cells for overdischarge, and if you’re careles... | 1,760,372,317.542424 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2023/04/28/auto-tape-wrapping-machine-is-amazing-for-cable-management/ | Auto Tape Wrapping Machine Is Amazing For Cable Management | Lewin Day | [
"Tool Hacks"
] | [
"cable wrapping",
"cables",
"looms",
"wiring loom",
"wrapping cables"
] | If you’ve dived under the hood of any car built in the last 40 years, you’ve likely noticed the bundles of neatly-wrapped cables making up the car’s wiring loom.
[The Q] has built a tool for handling jobs like this yourself.
The build starts with a pair of sprockets linked up with bicycle chain, and mounted to a wooden frame. A motor drives the smaller sprocket, which turns the larger sprocket in turn. The larger sprocket itself is mounted on a series of internal rollers, while it mounts a carrier for a roll of tape. As the larger sprocket turns, it will happily wrap whatever you feed through the central hole in tape in a neat and tidy manner.
For those working with automotive looms, large robot cable runs, or PC builds, a tool like this can be of great utility. [The Q} even demonstrates it put to oddball tasks, like wrapping bicycle handlebars or pipe threads.
We’ve seen similar builds before, too
. Video after the break. | 15 | 8 | [
{
"comment_id": "6636646",
"author": "UnreliableMongoose",
"timestamp": "2023-04-28T20:25:40",
"content": "Wow, I love this! Amazing video work too. So much effort to make such a silly yet useful thing.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "6636813"... | 1,760,372,317.238191 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2023/04/28/led-matrix-displays-get-new-look-thanks-to-smd-stencils/ | LED Matrix Displays Get New Look Thanks To SMD Stencils | Dan Maloney | [
"LED Hacks"
] | [
"adobe",
"illustrator",
"led",
"matrix",
"smd",
"solder",
"stencil"
] | Even if surface-mount skills aren’t in your repertoire, chances are pretty good that most of us are at least familiar with SMD stencils. These paper-thin laser-cut steel sheets are a handy way to apply a schmear of solder paste to the pads of a PCB before component placement and reflowing. But are stencils good for anything else?
It turns out they are
, if you’ve got some plain old 8×8 LED matrix displays you want to jazz up a bit. In this case, [upir]’s displays were of the square pixel type, but this trick would work just as well for a matrix with circular elements. Most of the video below is a master class in Adobe Illustrator, which [upir] used to generate the artwork for his stencils. There are a lot of great tips here that make creating one simple shape and copying it over the whole array with the proper spacing a lot easier. He also details panelizing multiple stencils, as well as the workflow from Illustrator to manufacturing.
When lined up properly over the face of the LED matrix, the stencils have quite an effect. We really liked the narrow vertical bars, which make the LED display look a bit like a VFD. And just because [upir] chose to use the same simple shape over all the LEDs in a matrix doesn’t mean that there aren’t other options. We can see how you might use the same technique to create different icons or even alphanumeric characters to create custom LED displays. The possibilities are pretty much limited to your imagination.
This isn’t the first time we’ve seen [upir]
teaching old displays new tricks
. | 26 | 4 | [
{
"comment_id": "6636618",
"author": "DougM",
"timestamp": "2023-04-28T18:50:55",
"content": "Stencil hacking! Brilliant – I never would have thought of that.You win the Internet for the day.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "6636625",
"autho... | 1,760,372,317.723538 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2023/04/28/rising-to-the-occasion-a-brief-history-of-crewed-high-altitude-balloons/ | Rising To The Occasion: A Brief History Of Crewed High Altitude Balloons | Al Williams | [
"History",
"Interest",
"Space"
] | [
"balloon",
"space"
] | Piccard inspects an instrument on his balloon (Image: Bundesarchiv, Bild 102-10382 /
CC-BY-SA 3.0
)
We think of human flight as a relatively modern affair, with a few claims to the first airplane all around the turn of the last century. But people flew much earlier than that by using hot air balloons as well as gas-filled ones. While the Montgolfier brothers get most of the credit for hot air ballooning in 1783, there are some reports that a Brazilian priest may have lifted himself with a balloon as early as 1709.
Regardless, we’ve had balloons a good century earlier than winged flight, if not longer. While the device is deceptively simple, it is possible to get a balloon to very high altitudes without a lot of specialized technology. Airplanes at high altitudes need a way to get enough oxygen to fuel their engines, or they have to rely on rockets. Either way, there are plenty of design and operational challenges.
Balloons, of course, can simply rise to the occasion. Auguste Piccard and an assistant took a gas-filled balloon to 15,781 meters in 1931. Their gondola was pressurized, and they were the first humans to see the curvature of the Earth and the dark sky above. That record wouldn’t stand for long, though.
CCCP-1
The Soviet Union was keenly interested in Piccard’s flight, and the Soviet Air Force set about to build a research vessel,
CCCP-1 (in English, USSR-1)
, that flew in 1933. The envelope was a large amount of thin fabric impregnated with latex and filled with hydrogen. The air-tight gondola presented several challenges in design. Most of the science experiments were outside, of course, and in 1933, you didn’t have an Arduino and RC servos to control things.
The gondola of CCCP-1 (Image: [Dmitry Ivanov]
CC-BY-SA 3.0
)
For example, the craft had air bottles to sample the atmosphere at different altitudes. The bottles had thin necks and an electromagnet would break them open on command. The neck also had a platinum coil around it so that, when heated with an electric current, the bottle would seal again.
Life support was some oxygen bottles and chemical CO
2
absorbers. Even so, all three of the crew wore pressure suits and parachutes. Control of the height of the balloon was via ballast. There were 40 small bags outside the gondola full of lead weights. An air-tight mechanical arrangement allowed the crew to flip the bags over, dumping the lead.
The first attempt didn’t work well, but the second attempt was a huge success. It appears that the method of filling the envelope was the cause of the problem with the first attempt. About 3,000 cubic meters of gas took the balloon to a record 19,000 meters.
Not long afterward, in early 1934, a Soviet civilian organization went to 22,000 meters in Osoaviakhim-1. However, the lengthy flight stayed too long in the sun, lost gas, and rapidly descended, killing the three crew members aboard. They had parachutes, but it is thought they were incapacitated by high g-force as the gondola fell, rotating its way down from 12,000 meters.
Second Try
Lessons from the tragedy informed a refit of CCCP-1. In 1935, it reached 16,000 meters but then started plummeting due to gas loss through a faulty valve. The commander, Christian Zille, ordered his crew to bail out, and they did so at 3,500 and 2,500 meters.
One of the refits was a large parachute designed to stabilize a falling gondola, but Zille was fearful that deploying it would destroy the scientific instruments, wasting the mission. Instead, he dumped everything he could out to reduce weight. Before the balloon landed, Zille stepped out of the gondola, clinging to a ladder. Presumably, he thought if the crash were bad, he might be thrown clear. He didn’t need to. The craft made a soft and safe landing.
Meanwhile, Across the Ocean
IR photograph from Explorer II at 21,946 meters
The United States also sent a balloon with a crew up in late 1935. Explorer II, a
helium
balloon, reached 22,066 meters with two Army Air Corps Captains aboard. It’s predecessor, Explorer I, was a hydrogen balloon, and despite reaching 18,475 meters, had a violent drop in altitude followed by a gas explosion. The crew barely managed to parachute out at 150 meters above the Earth.
There was concern for the scientific instruments aboard Explorer II in the event of a rough landing, so the crew released them at relatively low altitudes to drift down on their own parachutes. The cost was high, too, with $60,000 spent. That’s $1.3 M today.
Modern Records
Alan Eustace’s suit looks more like a moon suit than skydiving gear
In slightly more modern times, Joseph Kittinger did a skydive from a balloon at 31,300 meters in 1960. Felix Baumgartner pulled the same stunt from 38,969 meters in 2012, and Alan Eustace lept from 41,419 meters in 2014.
As you can see in the accompanying video, the Kittinger jumps were part of an Air Force project to test multi-stage parachutes made for high-altitude ejections. This was dangerous testing. On the first attempt, the first stage parachute caught his neck, causing him to black out and spin at about 120 RPM. Luckily, his main chute opened automatically, and he returned to the ground safely. There were only two more tests after that.
Eustace, on the other hand, was a retired Google Vice President. He made his jump in a what was essentially a space suit. He exceeded 1,323 km/h as he descended for almost four and a half minutes.
No Crew
Putting people up in balloons is a hassle — they’re heavy and require all that life support and safety gear. The home hacker should probably stick to unmanned balloons like
the pair launched from the Hackaday Supercon
. If you are worried about how to get your payload home, there’s always
R2Home
. | 11 | 6 | [
{
"comment_id": "6636593",
"author": "Michael Black",
"timestamp": "2023-04-28T17:19:26",
"content": "The Explorer 2, there was a dramatic painting in National Geographic, one crew member having difficulty getting out of the capsule with his parachute on.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
... | 1,760,372,317.488572 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2023/04/28/hackaday-podcast-216-fets-fax-and-electrochemical-fab/ | Hackaday Podcast 216: FETs, Fax, And Electrochemical Fab | Elliot Williams | [
"Hackaday Columns",
"Podcasts"
] | [
"Hackaday Podcast"
] | In this week’s podcast, non-brothers Elliot Williams and Al Williams talk about our favorite hacks of the week. Elliot’s got analog on the brain, courtesy of the ongoing Op Amp Contest, and Al is all about the retrocomputers, from a thrift-store treasure to an old, but still incredibly serviceable, voice synthesizer. Both agree that they love clever uses of mechanical parts and that nobody should fear the FET.
Check out the links below if you want to follow along, and as always, tell us what you think about this episode in the comments!
Download
your own personal copy
!
Where to Follow Hackaday Podcast
Places to follow Hackaday podcasts:
iTunes
Spotify
Stitcher
RSS
YouTube
Check
out our Libsyn landing page
Episode 216 Show Notes:
News:
2023 Hackaday Prize: The Assistive Tech Challenge Starts Now
What’s that Sound?
Congrats to [Mr SDR] for guessing the sound of the week!
Interesting Hacks of the Week:
Retrotechtacular: Putting Pictures On The Wire In The 1930s
Retrotechtacular: FAX As A Service In 1984
FAXing In 1843
AP Wirephoto Blog
Make Your ESP32 Talk Like It’s The 80s Again
Very Slow Movie Player Avoids E-Ink Ghosting With Machine Learning
The Shuttle Engine Needed 3D Printing, But…
Op Amp Contest: A Slice Of The ’70s
Ask Hackaday: Split Rail Op Amp Power Supply
Mystery 1802 Computer Was A Homebrew Project
Quick Hacks:
Elliot’s Picks:
Low-Cost RF Power Sensor Gets All The Details Right
Messing With A Cassette Player Never Sounded So Good
$60 Robot Arm Is Compact
Al’s Picks:
Run Linux by Emulating RISC-V on a RISC-V Microcontroller
Half Crystal Radio, Half Regenerative Radio
Tiny Three-Tube Receiver Completes Spy Radio Suite
Can’t-Miss Articles:
The BSides: More Curious Uses Of Off-the-shelf Parts
FET: The Friendly Efficient Transistor | 3 | 3 | [
{
"comment_id": "6636631",
"author": "Dude",
"timestamp": "2023-04-28T19:30:23",
"content": "One caveat to the op-amp power supply rejection ratio: it’s frequency dependent. You’ll still want to add low-ESR decoupling capacitors close to the power input to the chip to eat up any fast transients.Op-a... | 1,760,372,317.323857 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2023/04/28/transistors-that-grow-on-trees/ | Transistors That Grow On Trees | Bryan Cockfield | [
"Science"
] | [
"cellulose",
"conductivity",
"electronics",
"lignin",
"sustainability",
"transistor",
"wood"
] | Modern technology is riddled with innovations that were initially inspired by the natural world. Velcro, bullet trains, airplanes, solar panels, and many other technologies took inspiration from nature to become what they are today. While some of these examples might seem like obvious places to look, scientists are peering into more unconventional locations for
this transistor design which is both inspired by and made out of wood
.
The first obvious hurdle to overcome with any electronics made out of wood is that wood isn’t particularly conductive, but then again a block of silicon needs some work before it reliably conducts electricity too. First, the lignin is removed from the wood by dissolving it in acetate, leaving behind mostly the cellulose structure. Then a conductive polymer is added to create a lattice structure of sorts using the wood cellulose as the structure. Within this structure, transistors can be constructed that function mostly the same as a conventional transistor might.
It might seem counterintuitive to use wood to build electronics like transistors, but this method might offer a number of advantages including sustainability, lower cost, recyclability, and physical flexibility. Wood can be worked in a number of ways once the lignin is removed, most notably when making paper, but removing the lignin can also make the wood relatively transparent as well
which has a number of other potential uses
.
Thanks to [Adrian] for the tip! | 16 | 6 | [
{
"comment_id": "6636557",
"author": "Cyna",
"timestamp": "2023-04-28T15:30:56",
"content": "Now we just need transparent aluminium.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "6636637",
"author": "Stanley Hirsh",
"timestamp": "2023-04-28T... | 1,760,372,317.376831 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2023/04/30/a-microneedle-vaccine-patch-printer-for-thermostable-mrna-vaccines/ | A Microneedle Vaccine Patch Printer For Thermostable MRNA Vaccines | Maya Posch | [
"Medical Hacks",
"Science"
] | [
"microneedle",
"microneedle patch"
] | What if you could get vaccinated with the ease of putting on an adhesive bandage? This is the promise of microneedle patches (MNP), which are essentially what they sound like. These would also have uses in diagnostics that might one day obliviate the need for drawing blood. The one major issue with MNPs is their manufacturing, which has been a laborious and highly manual process. In a recent paper in
Nature Biotechnology
researchers detail the
construction and testing
of a MNP printer, or microneedle vaccine printer (MVP) that can print dissolving polymers containing stabilized mRNA vaccine.
These mRNA strands are as usual encapsulated in a liquid nanoparticle container, which is mixed with the soluble and biocompatible polymer. This mixture is then added to a mold and dried, after which it retains the microneedle structure of the mold. On tests involving pig skin, the MNPs were capable of penetrating the skin and delivering the vaccine contained in the needles. Produced patches were shown to be shelf-stable for at least six months, which would make these ideal for vaccine distribution in areas where refrigeration and similar are problematic.
Using MNPs for delivering vaccines has previously been researched for e.g. delivering
rotavirus and poliovirus vaccine
, and a 2021 study in
Nature Biomedical Engineering
looked at the viability
of using MNPs to rapidly sample protein biomarkers in interstitial fluid, which could make diagnostics for certain biomarkers as uncomplicated as putting on the patch, removing it and examining it, removing the need for drawing blood or sampling large amounts of interstitial fluid for external analysis.
If the concept of the MVP and similar MNP printers can be commercialized, it might make it possible to strongly shorten the supply chain for vaccines in less developed regions, while also enabling diagnostics that are very costly and cumbersome today. | 95 | 13 | [
{
"comment_id": "6637702",
"author": "The Commenter Formerly Known As Ren",
"timestamp": "2023-04-30T20:13:49",
"content": "Why would I want to become a GMO (genetically modified organism) by having foreign mRNA injected into me?For decades parents have been demanding non-GMO foods for consumption,I... | 1,760,372,317.663816 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2023/04/30/embed-hardware-into-3d-prints-but-not-in-the-way-youre-thinking/ | Embed Hardware Into 3D Prints, But Not In The Way You’re Thinking | Donald Papp | [
"3d Printer hacks",
"Tool Hacks"
] | [
"3d printing",
"efficiency",
"fasteners",
"hardware",
"packaging",
"robotic"
] | [Christopher Helmke] is doing fantastic work in DIY systems for handling small hardware like fasteners, and that includes
robotic placement of hardware into 3D prints
. Usually this means dropping nuts into parts in mid-print so that the hardware is captive, but that’s not really the story here.
The really inventive part we want to highlight is the concept of reducing packaging and labor. Instead of including a zip-lock bag of a few bolts, how about embedding the bolts into a void in the 3D print, covered with a little snip-out retainer?
Skip ahead to 1:54 in the video
to see exactly what we mean. It’s a pretty compelling concept that we hope sparks a few ideas in others.
As clever as that concept is, the rest of the video is also worth a watch because [Christopher] shows off a DIY system that sits on top of his 3D printer and takes care of robotically placing the hardware in mid-print. He talks all about the challenges of such a system. It’s not perfect (yet), but seeing it in action is very cool.
We’ve recently seen a lot of fascinating stuff when it comes to [Christopher Helmke]’s automated handling of fasteners and similar hardware. His system makes
rapid and accurate dispensing of bolts
look easy, and his work on
using compressed air to zip pieces around
seems effective. | 9 | 5 | [
{
"comment_id": "6637677",
"author": "Foldi-One",
"timestamp": "2023-04-30T18:32:48",
"content": "Do really like the concept behind the mounting hardware held captive in a pocket on the part rather than a bag. Should be relatively often possible to do as well, as more often than not there is lots of... | 1,760,372,317.280927 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2023/04/30/add-a-little-quindar-to-your-comms-for-that-apollo-era-sound/ | Add A Little Quindar To Your Comms For That Apollo-Era Sound | Dan Maloney | [
"classic hacks",
"History"
] | [
"74xx123",
"apollo",
"beep",
"boop",
"FSK",
"in-band signaling",
"intro",
"outro",
"quindar",
"xr-2206"
] | If there’s one thing that ties together all the media coming out of the Apollo era, it’s probably the iconic Quindar tones. These quarter-second beeps served as control tones for the globe-spanning communications network needed to talk to the Apollo astronauts, and any attempt to recreate the Apollo-era sound would be glaringly wrong without them. And that’s why [CuriousMarc] whipped up
this Quindar tone system
.
The video below starts with a detailed treatment of what Quindar tones are and why they were used, a topic
we’ve covered ourselves in the past
. To recap, Quindar tones are a form of
in-band signaling
, with a 2,525-Hz pure sine wave intro tone that signaled the transmitters connected to Mission Control in Houston over leased telephone lines to key up. The 2,475-Hz outro tone turned off the transmitters and connected the line to the receivers.
To recreate the sound quality of the original circuitry, and to keep in the retro vibe, [Marc]’s Quindar homage avoided digital circuitry as much as possible, opting instead to generate the two tones with an XR-2206 function generator chip. The chip can rapidly switch back and forth between two frequencies, making it perfect for FSK applications or, in this case, reproducing the two slightly different tones. [Marc] added a dual mono-stable multi-vibrator to pulse the tone, giving the 250-ms pulse, and an audio gate, which uses a MOSFET to switch the tone into an audio stream. All this got soldered up to a piece of perf board and stuffed in the base of a cheap intercom microphone, which while not period accurate still has a cool retro look — and now, a retro sound, too.
Hats off to [CuriousMarc] and his merry band for probing the mysteries of Apollo-era comms and keeping the accomplishments of all those engineers alive. The methods they used are still relevant after all these years, and there seems to be no end to what we can learn from them. | 9 | 6 | [
{
"comment_id": "6637622",
"author": "dianea",
"timestamp": "2023-04-30T14:29:23",
"content": "Thank you for this * beep! *",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "6637627",
"author": "MEDCOM",
"timestamp": "2023-04-30T14:37:00",
"content": ... | 1,760,372,317.772043 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2023/04/30/when-your-smart-light-switches-stop-working-build-your-own/ | When Your Smart Light Switches Stop Working, Build Your Own | Lewin Day | [
"home hacks"
] | [
"home",
"home automation",
"IoT",
"light switch"
] | If you want smart light switches in your house, you can buy from any one of hundreds of manufacturers. [Brian Boyle] had kitted out his home with TP Link devices, but after a few years of use, he found they all suddenly failed within a few months of each other. Decrying the state of things,
he set about building his own instead.
[Brian]’s switches use the ESP32 for its handy in-built WiFi hardware. His aim was to produce smart switches that would fit neatly into standard “Decor” style switch boxes. The design uses two PCBs. One is charged with handling the mains power side of things. It carries an SPDT relay for switching AC power, and a DC power supply to run the ESP32 itself. The controller board holds the microcontroller, a Neopixel as a status indicator, and a pair of buttons — one for switching the lights on and off, the other for resetting to default settings. The physical housing is 3D printed, and looks great with the glowing status indicator in the middle of the switch.
[Brian]’s switches are triggerable via MQTT, a web interface, and the physical button onboard the device itself. Having built the devices on his own, he’ll be well-placed to troubleshoot any usability or reliability issues that crop up in the future.
That’s a lot more than we can say about most smart devices on the market! | 14 | 10 | [
{
"comment_id": "6637596",
"author": "NdK",
"timestamp": "2023-04-30T12:36:15",
"content": "Tried something similar with my DomoSwitch (https://github.com/NdK73/HomeAutomation/tree/master/domoswitch) but never got to packaging :(",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
... | 1,760,372,317.843805 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2023/04/30/usb-borescope-lets-doctors-hone-intubation-skills-on-the-cheap/ | USB Borescope Lets Doctors Hone Intubation Skills On The Cheap | Dan Maloney | [
"Medical Hacks"
] | [
"borescope",
"endotracheal",
"intubation",
"laryngoscope",
"medical",
"usb"
] | One of the most critical skills in emergency medicine is airway management. Without a patent airway, a patient has about four minutes to live, so doctors and paramedics put a huge amount of effort into honing their intubation skills. They have to be able to insert an endotracheal tube quickly and efficiently, without damaging sensitive structures like the vocal cords. It’s a tricky skill to master without a ton of practice.
The perfect tool to practice these skills is a video laryngoscope, but these are wildly expensive and reserved for clinical use. Luckily, with a little ingenuity and a cheap USB borescope, [Dr. Adam Blumenberg] and [Dr. Erin Falk] were able to come up with
this low-cost video-assisted laryngoscopy setup
to reach as many students as possible. The idea is to use a single-use laryngoscope blade, which replicates the usual tool used to visualize the patient’s vocal cords. The blade is made from clear plastic, which makes it perfect for the application. The borescope is passed through an opening in the blade and affixed to it with adhesives. A little Dremel work might be necessary to get the optical axes of the blade and the camera to line up; failing that, there’s always the option to disassemble the camera to get a better angle.
The chief advantage of this setup, aside from being cheap, is that it’s something that it’s not intended to be used on patients. Along with an airway manikin, the tricked-out borescope can sit in a conference room waiting for students to have a go. Using a large screen allows the whole group to watch the delicate procedure and learn from the mistakes of others. It may not be
as detailed a simulation environment as some
, but “blade time” is really what counts here. | 8 | 7 | [
{
"comment_id": "6637605",
"author": "The Commenter Formerly Known As Ren",
"timestamp": "2023-04-30T13:12:40",
"content": "At first I thought this was going to be about placing an NG (naso-gastric) tube post pyloric (into the duodenum).",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
}... | 1,760,372,317.888695 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2023/04/29/rp2040-gets-intellikeys-keyboard-up-and-running/ | RP2040 Gets Intellikeys Keyboard Up And Running | Lewin Day | [
"Peripherals Hacks"
] | [
"accessibility",
"intellikeys",
"keyboard"
] | The Spectronic Intellikeys was an innovative keyboard-like accessibility device that used special plastic overlays that change its functionality. While a USB version of the accessible keyboard exists, it doesn’t work like a normal HID device, so it’s not plug and play as you might expect. It’s also no longer in production or supported by the manufacturer. Where industry falls down, the community steps in, right? To that end,
Adafruit has built a tool for interfacing with these useful accessibility devices.
The key is the way the Intellikeys was intended to work with a computer. It was designed to download its firmware from the host machine, using special drivers that are only compatible with certain versions of Windows. That means you can’t use it with iPads or Chromebooks, for example.
To get around this, Adafruit used an RP2040 Feather configured as a USB host to talk to the Intellikeys. It queries the device, determines which overlay it currently has installed, and provides it the necessary firmware. On the other end, the Feather enumerates as a regular USB HID device. That allows it to work with a wide variety of tablets, computers, and even smartphones.
If you’ve got an Intellikeys USB device and miss using it, this could be just the thing you need. Meanwhile, you can check out some of the
other interesting keyboard designs
we’ve featured over the years.
The RP2040 Feather with USB Host lets us use Intellikeys with an iPad
the Intellikeys is a popular accessibility device with custom overlays, that is no longer supported. even though it has a USB plug it doesn't work like many USB devices: it doesn't enumerate as an HID…
pic.twitter.com/HpQcwqI1Op
— adafruit industries (@adafruit)
April 25, 2023 | 7 | 6 | [
{
"comment_id": "6637458",
"author": "Dummy user",
"timestamp": "2023-04-30T05:09:57",
"content": "Probably could use webusb to upload firmware from webpage.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "6643417",
"author": "Andy Shaw",
"tim... | 1,760,372,317.930308 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2023/04/29/dont-let-the-baluns-float-over-your-head/ | Don’t Let The Baluns Float Over Your Head | Bryan Cockfield | [
"Radio Hacks"
] | [
"antenna",
"balun",
"choke",
"Coax",
"common mode",
"feedline",
"high frequency",
"noise",
"radio frequency",
"RF",
"transformer",
"ugly balun"
] | Most ham radio operators will build an antenna of some sort when they first start listening or transmitting, whether it’s a simple dipole, a beam antenna like a Yagi, or even just a random wire vertical antenna. All of these will need to be connected feedline of some sort, and in the likely event you reach for some 50-ohm coax cable you’ll also need a balun to reduce noise or unwanted radiation. Don’t be afraid of extra expenses when getting into this hobby, though, as [W6NBC]
demonstrates how to construct an “ugly balun” out of the coax wire itself
(PDF).
The main purpose of a balun, a contraction of “balanced-unbalanced” is to convert an unbalanced transmission line to a balanced one. However, as [W6NBC] explains, this explanation obscures much of what baluns are actually doing. In reality, they take a three-wire system (the coax) and convert it to a two-wire system (the antenna), which keeps all of the electrical noise and current on the shield wire of the coax from interfering with the desirable RF on the interior of the coax.
This might seem somewhat confusing on the surface, as coax wires only have a center conductor and a shield wire, but thanks to the skin effect which drives currents to the outside of the conductor, the shield wire effectively becomes two conductors when taking into account its inner and outer surfaces. At these high frequencies the balun is acting as a choke which keeps these two high-frequency conductors separate from one another, and keeps all the noise on the outside of the shield wire and out of the transmitter or receiver.
Granted, the world of high-frequency radio circuits can get quite complex and counter-intuitive and,
as we’ve shown before
, can behave quite unexpectedly when compared to DC or even mains-frequency AC. But a proper understanding of baluns and other types of transformers and the ways they interact with RF can be a powerful tool to have. We’eve even seen other hams
use specialty transformers like these
to make antennas out of random lengths and shapes of wire.
Thanks to [Zane] for the tip! | 5 | 2 | [
{
"comment_id": "6637340",
"author": "David",
"timestamp": "2023-04-30T02:19:38",
"content": "Coiled coax makes for generally terrible baluns, and in some cases the interwinding capacitance can combine with the inductance of the coil to actually produce a series resonant circuit that is useless. At... | 1,760,372,318.215301 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2023/04/28/this-week-in-security-session-puzzling-session-keys-and-speculation/ | This Week In Security: Session Puzzling, Session Keys, And Speculation | Jonathan Bennett | [
"Hackaday Columns",
"News",
"Security Hacks"
] | [
"rdp",
"speculative execution",
"This Week in Security"
] | Last week we briefly mentioned a vulnerability in the Papercut software, and more details and a proof of concept
have been published
. The vulnerability is one known as
session puzzling
. That’s essentially where a session variable is used for multiple purposes, or gets incorrectly set. In Papercut, it was possible to trigger the
SetupCompleted
class on a server that had already finished that initial setup process. And part of
SetupCompleted
validated the session of the current user. In a normal first-setup case, that might make sense, but as anyone could trigger that code, it allowed anonymous users to jump straight to admin.
The other half of
the exploit
leverages the “print script” feature, which lets admins write code that runs on printing. A simple
java.lang.Runtime.getRuntime().exec('calc.exe');
does the trick to jump from web interface to remote code execution. The indicators of compromise are reasonable generic, including
User "admin" logged into the administration interface.
and
Admin user "admin" modified the print script on printer "".
. A Shodan search turns up around 1,700 Papercut servers accessible from the Internet, which prompts the painfully obvious observation that your internal print auditing solution’s web interface definitely should not be exposed online.
Apache Superset
Superset is a nifty data visualization tool for showing charts, graphs, and all sorts of pretty data sets on a dashboard. It also has some weirdness with using web sessions for user management. The session is stored on the user side in a cookie, signed with a secret key. This works great, unless the key used is particularly weak. And guess what, the
default configuration of Superset uses a pre-populated secret key
.
thisismysecretkey
is arguably a bad key to start with, but it turns out it’s also shared by more than 70% of the accessible Superset servers.
Apparently the Superset devs realized this was an issue, as they changed the value to a new, more obvious placeholder key,
CHANGE_ME_TO_A_COMPLEX_RANDOM_SECRET
, and added a log message if the service was started with one of the known default keys. After a year of this behavior, the Internet’s Superset servers were checked again, and this time 67% were using one of the placeholders. Thankfully the 2.1 release of Superset now outright refuses to start if one of the placeholder keys is left in the config file. The lesson to users is to read config files for CHANGEME tags. And for developers, don’t leave any footguns in your default config files, as users will shoot themselves in their feet without fail.
Speculation Fun
Up first in speculation fun is
the AMD Spectral Chicken bit
. So, chicken bits are individual bits of data sent to a chip to disable features, usually for security or stability reasons. And AMD’s Zen2 processors have a bit that disables certain speculative optimizations that could turn out to have security problems. The Linux Kernel is aware of that particular chicken bit, and uses
ZEN2_SPECTRAL_CHICKEN
to refer to it in code.
An AMD engineer wanted to update that name to the admittedly boring
ZEN2_DE_CFG2_SUPPRESS_NOBR_PRED
, and the Intel engineer that wrote the code NAK’d it, saying that AMD failed to help document or support the code way back when it was written. We could consider it a chicken of shame for AMD to wear around their necks for a while. And before you get too worked up about the back and forth, this really seems to be some light-hearted fun between colleagues.
It’s not all fun and games for Intel, as it looks like
there’s yet another evolution of the Meltdown flaw
that’s been discovered.This time, instead of using the machine’s cache to leak information about inaccessible memory, the EFLAGS register is used. It’s quite similar otherwise, as the state of the register is primed using memory that the attacker process cannot access, and then the timing of branching instructions is measured to discern the contents of the target memory. It’s a slower and less reliable side channel, but demonstrates that we still haven’t quite defeated speculative execution attacks, and probably won’t fully for quite some time. Hat tip to [Herr Brain] for pointing this one out.
AI Helps Compete
I’ve mused that ChatGPT is sort of like the laser, in that it’s impressive technology, but at the outset is still looking for a problem to solve. Well, [Micah] managed to set GPT-4 loose on a problem, and
was quite impressed with the solution
. The problem was the Capture the Flag competition being held at BSides SF 2023. The first challenge of note was a QR contest, where a flag was
cryptographically split into seven parts
, and encoded into QR codes. The algorithm was such that it took at least five parts to solve. After finding six of the QR code elements, [Micah] sent the data to GPT-4, and asked it to figure out the solution. In response, it spat out a Python script to solve the algorithm, and it worked on the first try. Impressive.
The second and third challenges were Perl and Linux shell tricks, and in both cases, it took a bit of back-and-forth with ChatGPT to zero in on the exact answer, but did eventually do the trick. So the next time you’re up against a sticky CTF problem, maybe ask ChatGPT to help you figure it out. Is it actually better than a good old-fashioned search engine? We’re not sure, but it looks like fun to try it!
RDP Hash Capture By Design
Researchers at GoSecure
put together an interesting attack against Remote Desktop Protocol
users, turned it in to Microsoft, and received the dreaded response, “not a vulnerability”. Microsoft may consider this behavior working as intended, but it’s worth knowing about, as it looks like it could really bite an unware user. The problem is how the RDP protocol security handshake works, and when the user and server identify themselves.
The first time you connect to a new Remote Desktop connection, there’s the warning that it’s an untrusted connection. The user knows this is the right server, so trusts and tells Windows not to ask again for this server. If everything is working as it should be, next connection won’t show the warning, as it’s confirmed to be the same server. The problem is that a man-in-the-middle attack can intercept the connection, and the connecting client will send the NetNTLMv2 hash
before
the server’s credentials are checked. And losing that hash just might be enough to reverse engineer a weak or common password. The conclusion? Don’t use RDP from an untrusted network. Makes sense to us.
Bits and Bytes
Users of KeyPassXC rejoice, your favorite password management solution
just passed an external code audit with mostly flying colors
. The only real problem found was that the memory deallocation process could be better at scrubbing secrets from RAM in certain situations. It’s always nice to get outside, professional eyes on an important solution like a password manager.
Western Digital appears to be
the latest giant to be wrestling with ransomware
. Attackers claim to have exfiltrated a whopping 10 terabytes of data, and are demanding tens of millions of dollars to not publish. What’s odd is that the traditional ransomware approach — encrypting the data — was skipped this time. Perhaps large companies have gotten their act together on good backups to the point that it’s not an effective threat. Information is still a bit spotty, but it looks like
something
happened at WD.
And finally, ever wonder what exactly the options are for an attacker that gets admin on a local Windows machine? What comes next, in the never-ending quest to break into all the boxes?
Synacktiv has us covered
. There are three broad approaches. First is getting at the memory of Local Security Authority Subsystem Service (LSASS), the Windows authentication service. And then don’t forget dumping the registry and looking for secrets there. The third covered hunting ground is DPAPI, the Data Protection API. Lots of non-OS software uses this one to save credentials. And if all three of those fail, there’s always the inevitable passwords document saved somewhere on the machine. | 7 | 4 | [
{
"comment_id": "6636578",
"author": "BT",
"timestamp": "2023-04-28T16:47:23",
"content": "Something tells me ChatGPT is going to feature quite a bit in this column in the coming months.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "6636582",
"autho... | 1,760,372,318.259082 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2023/04/28/checking-out-and-reviving-a-batch-of-used-floppy-disks/ | Checking Out And Reviving A Batch Of Used Floppy Disks | Maya Posch | [
"Retrocomputing"
] | [
"3.5\" floppy disk"
] | With the last manufacturer of 3.5″ floppy disks (FDs) having shut down in 2010, those who are still using this type of storage medium for production and/or retrocomputing purposes have to increasingly rely on a dwindling stack of new old stock, or the used market. With the purported unreliability of this type of magnetic media in mind, what are the chances of a box of used FDs — whether DD or HD format — still working in 2023? That’s the question which
[VWestLife] set out to answer in a recent video
when he bought a stash of these real-life save icons in 720 kB format from eBay.
To his delight, he found that he could read most of the disks without issues, revealing contents that had been on there since the 1990s. All but four also could be formatted without issues, the problematic disks reported bad sectors, which was a bit of a bummer. As a practical demonstration of how fun magnetic media is, he then proceeded to try and fix these four disks with a bulk eraser tool. This is a rather brute-force tool that uses a rapidly fluctuating electromagnetic field to scramble the bits on magnetic media.
As the cause of reported bad sectors and other issues can be due to sector alignment issues from years of constant writing by different drives, this may sometimes fix a disk. In this case one of the bad disks was fixed, while a second still showed bad sectors while the remaining two refused to format at all. Assuming one can get a box of old FDs for cheap and has a few hours to kill, it’s not a bad way to refill that stack of empty FDs.
Of course if you can’t fix that old floppy, you can
always make an IR filter out of it
.
Thanks to [Stephen Walters] for the tip. | 29 | 7 | [
{
"comment_id": "6636482",
"author": "Mike",
"timestamp": "2023-04-28T11:10:35",
"content": "Must have been one boring day to do something like that.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "6636628",
"author": "lj",
"timestamp": "2023-... | 1,760,372,318.457429 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2023/04/28/the-cheap-and-available-microwave-playground/ | The Cheap And Available Microwave Playground | Jenny List | [
"Radio Hacks"
] | [
"LNB",
"microwave",
"radio"
] | There’s something of a mystique about RF construction at the higher frequencies, it’s seen as a Black Art only practiced by elite wizards. In fact, UHF and microwave RF circuitry is surprisingly simple and easy to understand, and given the ready availability of low-noise block downconverters (LNBs) for satellite TV reception there’s even a handy source of devices to experiment on. It’s a subject on which [Polprog]
has brought together a handy guide
.
A modern LNB has some logic for selecting one of a pair of local oscillators and to use vertical or horizontal polarization, but remains otherwise a very simple device. There’s an oscillator, a mixer, and an RF amplifier, each of which uses microwave transistors that can with a little care be repurposed. The page demonstrates a simple transmitter, but it’s possible to create more powerful devices by using the amplifier stage “in reverse”.
Meanwhile the oscillator can be moved by loading the dielectric resonators with PVC sleeving, and the stripline filters can even be modified with a fine eye for soldering and some thin wire. Keep an eye out in thrift stores and yard sales for old satellite dishes, and you can give it a go yourself. It’s a modern equivalent of
the UHF tuner hacking enjoyed by a previous generation
. | 11 | 9 | [
{
"comment_id": "6636447",
"author": "Onetruegod",
"timestamp": "2023-04-28T08:20:31",
"content": "I literally told my son “RF is black magic” today. Maybe I’ll give it a try….",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "6636460",
"author": "polprog",
... | 1,760,372,318.31036 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2023/04/27/using-an-old-smartphone-in-place-of-a-raspberry-pi/ | Using An Old Smartphone In Place Of A Raspberry Pi | Bryan Cockfield | [
"Phone Hacks"
] | [
"bootloader",
"Galaxy",
"LineageOS",
"music",
"navidrome",
"ram",
"samsung",
"server",
"smartphone",
"streaming"
] | The Raspberry Pi was a fairly revolutionary computing device when it came on the scene around a decade ago. Enough processing power to run a full Linux desktop and plenty of GPIO meant almost certain success. In the past year, though, they’ve run into some issues with their chip supplier and it’s been difficult to find new Pis, which has led to some looking for alternatives to these handy devices. [David] was hoping to build a music streaming server
and built it on an old smartphone instead
of the ubiquitous single-board computer.
Most smartphones are single-board computers though, and at least the Android devices are fully capable of running Linux just like the Pi. The only problem tends to be getting around the carrier or manufacturer restrictions like a locked bootloader or lack of root access. For [David]’s first try getting this to work, he tried to install Navidrome on a Samsung phone but had difficulties with the lack of memory and had to build the software somewhere else and then load it on the phone. It did work, but the stock operating system kept killing the process for consuming too much memory.
Without root access, [David] decided to try LineageOS, a version of Android which, among other benefits, is typically much more configurable than the stock version of Android that is shipped with smartphones. This allowed him to disable or uninstall anything not needed for his music server to free up enough memory. After some issues with transcoding the actual music files he planned on streaming, his music server was successfully up and running on a phone that would have otherwise been relegated to the junk drawer. The specific steps he took to get this working can be found on his GitHub page as well.
[David] also mentioned looking at PostmarketOS for this job which is certainly a viable option for some, but the Linux distribution for phones is only supported on a few devices. Another viable alternative for a project like this if no Raspberry Pis are available might be any of a number of Pine64 devices that might also be sitting around gathering dust,
like the versatile Linux-based Pinephone
. | 63 | 20 | [
{
"comment_id": "6636405",
"author": "WenChih Chen",
"timestamp": "2023-04-28T05:51:14",
"content": "It seems like He doesn’t remove the battery of android phoneso battery might become fat some day, and break back cover or front panelIf He remove the battery, He need bypass the android battery moni... | 1,760,372,318.55653 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2023/04/27/solving-the-mystery-of-the-mayan-calendars-819-count-cycle/ | Solving The Mystery Of The Mayan Calendar’s 819-Count Cycle | Maya Posch | [
"Science"
] | [
"Mayan calendar",
"Mayan history"
] | Mayan Calendar Round. (Source:
Chichen Itza
)
Despite the mysticism that often clouds the Mayan calendar in popular culture, fact remains that the calendar system in use by the Mayans was based on a system used throughout the pre-Columbian Mesoamerican societies, dating back to at least the 5th century BCE. Characteristic of this system is the cyclical nature, with the Mayan calendar featuring three common cycles: the Long Count, Tzolk’in (260-day) and the 365-day, solar-based Haab’. Combined, these three cycles formed what is known as the Calendar Round and which lasts for 52 haab’ (years).
What was less obvious here was the somewhat obscure 819-day count that was found in certain locations in Mayan constructions. Now researchers John H. Linden and Victoria R. Bricker figure that they have discovered how this new cycle
matches up
with the previously known Calendar Round. In previous reports by e.g. Barbara McLeod and Hutch Kinsman in 2012, they
noted the ongoing debate
on this 819-day count and its potential purpose. The new insight by Linden and Bricker is that by increasing the calendar length to 20 periods of 819 days, it matches up with all synodic periods of the visible planets, explaining it as a planetary astronomical cycle.
What is interesting here is that the Mayan counting system is base-20 (vigesimal). Whether coincidence or not when it comes to this part of the
Mayan calendar
, it is good to see that more secrets of the Classical Mayan society are being recovered. With modern day Maya still living where their ancestors once did, these discoveries help them to recover and reconnect to the parts of their history that were so brutally destroyed by the invading Europeans.
(Heading image: El Caracol observatory at
Chichen Itza
, Mexico) | 51 | 10 | [
{
"comment_id": "6636372",
"author": "The Commenter Formerly Known As Ren",
"timestamp": "2023-04-28T03:04:43",
"content": "“With modern day Maya still living where their ancestors once did, these discoveries help them to recover and reconnect to the parts of their history that were so brutally dest... | 1,760,372,318.945947 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2023/04/27/cheap-deburring-tool-is-game-changer-for-3d-printing/ | Cheap Deburring Tool Is Game Changer For 3D Printing | Lewin Day | [
"3d Printer hacks",
"Tool Hacks"
] | [
"3d print",
"3d printer",
"3d printing",
"deburring",
"deburring tool",
"post-processing"
] | 3D printing’s real value is that you can whip up objects in all kinds of whacky geometries with a minimum of fuss. However, there’s almost always some post-processing to do. Like many manufactured plastic objects, there are burrs, strings, and rough edges to deal with. Fussing around with a knife to remove them is a poor way to go. As explained by [Adrian Kingsley-Hughes] on
ZDNet,
a deburring tool is the cheap and easy solution to the problem.
If you haven’t used one before, a deburring tool simply consists of a curved metal blade that swivels relative to its straight handle. You can drag the curved blade over the edge of a metal, wooden, or plastic object, and it neatly pulls away the burrs. There’s minimal risk of injury, unlike when pulling a regular blade towards yourself. The curved, swiveling blade is much less liable to slip or jump, and if it does, it’s far less likely to cut you.
For plastic use, just about any old deburring tool will do. They last a long time with minimal maintenance. They will wear out faster when used on metals, but you can get replacement blades cheap if you happen to need them. It’s a tool every workshop should have, particularly given they generally cost less than $20.
Given the ugly edges and rafts we’re always having to remove from our 3D prints, it’s almost egregious that printers don’t come with them bundled in the box. They’re just a bit obscure
when it comes to tools
; this may in fact be the first time Hackaday’s ever covered one. If you’ve got your own quality-of-life hacks for 3D printing, sound off below, or share them on the
tipsline
! We have able staff waiting for your email. | 54 | 18 | [
{
"comment_id": "6636328",
"author": "Thorin",
"timestamp": "2023-04-27T23:23:35",
"content": "It’s a little more expensive, but this deburring MULTI-TOOL means you have essentially 90% of the finishing methods for 3DPrints in the palm of one hand. Use this guy all the time.https://www.amazon.com/No... | 1,760,372,318.643462 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2023/04/27/smooth-animations-slick-bar-graphs-but-no-custom-characters-on-this-16x2-oled/ | Smooth Animations, Slick Bar Graphs, But No Custom Characters On This 16×2 OLED | Dan Maloney | [
"LED Hacks"
] | [
"16x2",
"animation",
"arduino",
"display",
"oled",
"rom",
"US2066"
] | Sometimes, finding new ways to use old hardware requires awesome feats of reverse engineering, software sleight of hand, and a healthy dose of good fortune. Other times, though, it’s just as simple as reading the data sheet and paying attention to details.
Not that we’re knocking [upir]’s accomplishment with
these tricked-out 16×2 OLED displays
. Far from it, in fact — the smoothly animated bar graph displays alphanumerics look fantastic. What’s cool about this is that he accomplished all this without resorting to custom characters.
We’ve seen him use this approach before
; this time around, the hack involves carefully shopping for a 16×2 OLED display with the right driver chip — a US2066 chip. You’ll still need a few tricks to get things working, like extra pull-up resistors to get the I2C display talking to an Arduino, plus a little luck that you got a display with the right character ROM.
Once all that is taken care of, getting the display to do what you want is mainly a matter of coding. In the video below, [upir] does a great job of walking through the finer points, and the results look great. The bar graphs in particular look fantastic, with silky-smooth animations. | 7 | 3 | [
{
"comment_id": "6636308",
"author": "Gravis",
"timestamp": "2023-04-27T21:25:37",
"content": "US2066 is actually a controller chip, not a driver chip. My understanding is that drivers are used for powering things.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id... | 1,760,372,318.687802 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2023/04/27/op-amp-challenge-whats-your-monitors-delay/ | Op Amp Challenge: What’s Your Monitor’s Delay? | Jenny List | [
"hardware"
] | [
"fpga",
"monitor delay",
"Op Amp Challenge",
"op-amp"
] | In the days of CRT displays, the precise synchronization between source and display meant that the time between a video line appearing at the input and the dot writing it to the screen was constant, and very small. Today’s display technologies deliver unimaginable resolutions compared to the TV your family had in the 1970s, but they do so at the expense of all their signal processing imposing a much longer delay before a frame is displayed. This can become an issue for gamers, but also with normal viewing, because in some circumstances the delay can be long enough for it to be audible in a disconnect between film and soundtrack. It’s something [Mike Kibbel]
has addressed with his video input delay meter
, and it makes for a very interesting project.
At its heart is an FPGA, and in the video below the break he goes into great detail about its programming. It both generates a DVI output to drive the monitor and performs the measurement. The analog to digital converter side of the circuit is interesting, he has a photodiode and an op-amp driving a comparator to form a simple 1-bit converter. He takes us through the design process in detail, with such useful little gems as the small amount of hysteresis applied to the comparator.
There are probably many ways this project could have been implemented, but this one is both technically elegant and extremely well documented. Definitely worth a look! | 12 | 5 | [
{
"comment_id": "6636276",
"author": "spiritplumber",
"timestamp": "2023-04-27T19:02:25",
"content": "We have a couple of cool designs, where do we submit them?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "6636287",
"author": "fiddlingjunky",
... | 1,760,372,318.733372 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2023/04/27/making-hydrogen-with-solar-energy-with-oxygen-and-heat-a-bonus/ | Making Hydrogen With Solar Energy, With Oxygen And Heat A Bonus | Lewin Day | [
"green hacks",
"Hackaday Columns",
"Science"
] | [
"green hydrogen",
"hydrogen",
"solar",
"solar hydrogen",
"solar power"
] | Hydrogen is a useful gas. Whether you want to float an airship, fuel a truck, or heat an industrial process, hydrogen can do the job. However, producing it is currently a fraught issue. While it can be produced cleanly using renewable energy, it’s often much cheaper to split it out of hydrocarbon fuels using processes that generate significant pollution.
There are methods to generate hydrogen more efficiently, though, in a clean and sustainable process. that also produces useful heat and oxygen as byproducts. The key to the process?
Concentrated sunshine.
Solar Split
A diagram of the system along with its concomitant process diagram. Credit: Holmes-Gentle, Tembhurne, Suter & Haussener (2023)
Hydrogen touted as a clean fuel of the future, by virtue of the fact it can be burned or used to make electricity with minimal to no emissions. It’s touted as a potential fuel for
cars
,
trucks
,
trains
,
planes
, and even
construction equipment.
However, while the hydrogen itself is clean, generating it often isn’t. The race is on to find a clean method of producing hydrogen at scale, with researchers investigating everything from
nanoparticles
to
advanced pyrolytic processes.
Whenever you hear people talking about “green hydrogen,” this is what they mean: hydrogen produced without any nasty greenhouse emissions.
With an eye to producing exquisitely clean hydrogen. researchers have demonstrated a pilot plant on the kilowatt-scale using solar hydrolysis technology, as per a paper published
in
Nature.
The system runs on municipal tap water, which is run through multiple particulate filters and deionizers to prepare it for the reactor. Inside the reactor, the deionized water is heated by light captured by a 7-meter diameter parabolic mirrored dish, which acts as a concentrator to maximise the solar energy that reaches the reactor. This light not only heats the water, but also reaches a photovoltaic panel which provides energy to run the PEM electrolysis cell, which is what actually splits the water into hydrogen and oxygen.
The key to the system is the double-purposing of the solar energy input. The most basic idea is to simply use solar energy from a photovoltaic system to power a PEM electrolysis cell. In this case, though, the solar energy is also used to heat the water which drastically improves the performance of the electrochemical process.
A holistic approach also maximises the economic value generated by the system. Waste heat from the system is captured with a heat exchanger where it could be used for a variety of external heating purposes. Additionally, the system doesn’t just output hydrogen, but oxygen as well. While this isn’t directly useful as a fuel, it’s still useful for a wide variety of industrial and medical applications.
The pilot plant produces roughly half a kilogram of hydrogen per day. That’s enough to power a single hydrogen car for a European racking up fairly average annual mileage. Alternatively, such an installation could provide roughly half the electrical demand and over half the annual heat demand of an average Swiss household. Realistically, though, straight photovoltaic solar would be far simpler in this instance.
The solar concentrator tracks the sun in two axes to make the absolute best of the solar energy available. Credit: EPFL,
YouTube
Plans are already in place to build a larger system at the multi-hundred-kilowatt scale, which will produce hydrogen for use in a Swiss metal production plant. It will also supply oxygen for medical use and deliver hot water for use at the factory.
Incidentally, if you’re interested in designing your own similar system, help is at hand. The École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) has released the Solar PhotoElectroChemical Device Optimization tool, or
SPECDO
for short. Essentially, it’s a web page full of calculators that determine the performance parameters of a given solar hydrogen generator. You’ll need to be pretty nifty with your engineering though, and find a way to source an effective PEM electrolyser for your design.
If hydrogen does become a mainstream fuel of the future, solar photochemical processes to make it efficiently will be key. There’s no point in spending huge sums of money to convert transport and industry over to hydrogen fuel if we produce it in a way that still creates greenhouse gas emissions, after all. At the same time, this research shows that hydrogen still isn’t a silver-bullet solution to all our problems. It requires significant engineering and finesse to come out cleaner than the fuels it’s intended to replace. | 66 | 15 | [
{
"comment_id": "6636247",
"author": "TG",
"timestamp": "2023-04-27T17:13:46",
"content": ">straight photovoltaic solar would be far simpler in this instance…Until it comes to the lifespan of the system and ENERGY STORAGE.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"co... | 1,760,372,318.855426 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2023/04/27/compressed-air-keeps-screws-moving-through-modular-production-system/ | Compressed Air Keeps Screws Moving Through Modular Production System | Dan Maloney | [
"Parts"
] | [
"bowl feeder",
"manufacturing",
"parts handling",
"Pneumatics"
] | If there’s an unsung hero of manufacturing, it’s the engineer who figures out how to handle huge numbers of small parts. It’s one thing to manually assemble something, picking each nut, bolt, and washer by hand. It’s another thing to build a machine that can do the same thing, but thousands of times in a row, ideally without making mistakes.
Most of us don’t need that level of automation in our processes, but when you do, it results in some interesting challenges. Take
this pneumatic screw accelerator
that [Christopher Helmke] designed for
his modular production system
. One of the custom machines in his system is a screw counter, which uses a magnetic wheel to feed screws — or nuts or washers — from a hopper, orient them correctly, and drop them into an output chute. While the counting bit worked quite well, parts would only go so far under the force of gravity in the clear vinyl tube used to connect the counter to the next process.
[Christopher]’s solution was simple but effective. His first prototype simply injects compressed air into the parts feed tube, which pushes the screws through the tubing. It works surprisingly well, propelling the parts through quite a long length of tubing, handling twisting paths easily and even working against gravity. Version 2 integrated the accelerator and a re-orienting fixture into a single part, which mates with a magazine that holds a large number of screws.
There are a lot of interesting features [Christoper] built into these simple parts that are worth keeping in mind. Our favorite is printing channels to guide small cable ties around the tubing to clamp it into the accelerator. We’ll be keeping that trick in mind. | 8 | 4 | [
{
"comment_id": "6636242",
"author": "mayhem",
"timestamp": "2023-04-27T16:54:49",
"content": "I used to work for Partylite candle corp. in the tealight department. We had 5 lines making 130 tealights per minute per line so high speed everything. the tealight cups would go into a wicker machine from... | 1,760,372,318.991291 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2023/04/27/the-modern-www-or-where-do-we-want-to-go-from-here/ | The Modern WWW, Or: Where Do We Want To Go From Here? | Maya Posch | [
"Featured",
"History",
"internet hacks",
"Slider",
"Software Development"
] | [
"web browser",
"www"
] | From the early days of ARPANET until the dawn of the World Wide Web (
WWW
), the internet was primarily the domain of researchers, teachers and students, with hobbyists running their own BBS servers you could dial into, yet not connected to the internet. Pitched in 1989 by Tim Berners-Lee while working at CERN, the WWW was intended as an information management system that’d provide standardized access to information using HTTP as the transfer protocol and HTML and later CSS to create formatted documents inspired by the
SGML
standard. Even better, it allowed for WWW forums and personal websites to begin to pop up, enabling the eternal joy of web rings, animated GIFs and forums on any conceivable topic.
During the early 90s, as the newly opened WWW began to gain traction with the public, the
Mosaic
browser formed the backbone of the WWW browsers (‘web browsers’) of the time, including
Internet Explorer
– which licensed the Mosaic code – and the Mosaic-based
Netscape Navigator
. With the WWW standards set by the – Berners-Lee-founded – World Wide Web Consortium (
W3C
), the stage appeared to be set for an open and fair playing field for all. What we got instead was the brawl referred to as the ‘
browser wars
‘, which – although changed – continues to this day.
Today it isn’t Microsoft’s Internet Explorer that’s ruling the WWW while setting the course for new web standards, but instead we have Google’s Chrome browser partying like it’s the early 2000s and it’s wearing an IE mask. With former competitors like Opera and Microsoft having switched to the Chromium browser engine that underlies Chrome, what does this tell us about the chances for alternative browsers and the future of the WWW?
We’re Not In Geocities Any More
Netscape Navigator 3.0 Personal Edition CD. (
Internet Archive
)
For those of us who were around to experience the 1990s WWW, this was definitely a wild time, with the ‘cyber highway’ being both hyped up and yet incredibly limited in its capabilities. Operating systems didn’t come with any kind of web browser until special editions of Windows 95 and the like began to include one. In the case of Windows this was of course Internet Explorer (3+), but if you were so inclined you could buy a CD with a Netscape, Opera or other browser and install that. Later, you could also download the free ‘Personal Edition’ of Netscape Navigator (later Communicator) or the ad-supported version of Opera, if you had a lot of dial-up minutes to burn through, or had a chance to leech off the school’s broadband link.
Once online in the 90s you were left with the dilemma of where to go and what to do. With no Google Search and only a handful of terrible search engines along with website portals to guide you, it was more about the joys of discovery. All too often you’d end up on a web ring and a host of Geocities or similar hobby sites, with the focus being primarily as Tim Berners-Lee had envisioned on sharing information. Formatting was basic and beyond some sites using fancy framesets and heavy use of images, things tended to Just Work
©
, until the late 90s when we got Dynamic HTML (DHTML), Visual Basic Script (VBS) and JavaScript (JS), along with Java Applets and Flash.
VBS was the surprising victim of JS, with the former being part of IE along with other Microsoft products long before JS got thrown together and pushed into production in less than a week of total design and implementation time just so that Netscape could have some scripting language to compete with. This was the era when Netscape was struggling to keep up with Microsoft, despite the latter otherwise having completely missed the boat on this newfangled ‘internet’ thing. One example of this was for example when Internet Explorer had implemented the HTML iframe feature, while Netscape 4.7x had not, leading to one of the first notable example of websites breaking that was not due to Java Applets.
As the 2000s rolled around, the
dot-com bubble
was on the verge of imploding, which left us with a number of survivors, including Google, Amazon and would soon swap Geocities and web rings for MySpace, FaceBook and kin. Meanwhile, the concept of web browsers as payware had fallen by the wayside, as some envisioned them as being targets for Open Source Software projects (e.g.
Mozilla Organization
), or as an integral part of being a WWW-based advertising company (Google with Chromium/Chrome).
What’s Your Time Worth
When it comes to the modern WWW, there are a few aspects to consider. The first is that of web browsers, as these form the required client software to access the WWW’s resources. Since the 1990s, the complexity of such software has skyrocketed. Rather than being simple HTML layout engines that accept CSS stylesheet to spruce things up, they now have to deal with complex HTML 5 elements like
<canvas>
, and CSS has
morphed into a scripting language
nearly as capable and complex as JavaScript.
JavaScript meanwhile has changed from the ‘dynamic’ part of DHTML into a Just-In-Time accelerated monstrosity just to keep up with the megabytes of JS frameworks that have to be parsed and run for a simple page load of the average website, or ‘web app’, as they are now more commonly called. Meanwhile there’s increasing more use of
WebAssembly
, which essentially adds a third language runtime to the application. The native APIs exposed to the JavaScript side are now expected to offer everything from graphics acceleration to access to microphones, webcams and serial ports.
Back in 2010 when I innocently embarked on the ‘simple’ task of
adding H.264 decoding support
to the Firefox 3.6.x source, this experience taught me more about the Netscape codebase than I had bargained for. Even if there had not been a nearly complete lack of documentation and a functioning build system, the sheer amount of code was such that the codebase was essentially unmaintainable, and that was thirteen years ago before new JavaScript, CSS and WebAssembly features got added to the mix. In the end I ended up
implementing
a basic browser using the QtWebkit module, but got blocked there when that module got discontinued and replaced with the far more limited Chromium-based module.
These days I mostly hang around the
Pale Moon
project, which has forked the Mozilla Gecko engine into the heavily customized
Goanna
engine. As
noted by the project
, although they threw out anything unnecessary from the Gecko engine, keeping up with the constantly added features with CSS and JS is nearly impossible. It ought to be clear at this point that writing a browser from scratch with a couple of buddies will never net you a commercial-grade product, hence why Microsoft threw in the towel with its
EdgeHTML
.
Today’s Sponsor
The second aspect to consider with the modern WWW is who determines the standards. In 2012 the internet was set ablaze when Google, Microsoft and Netflix sought to
push through
the Encrypted Media Extensions (
EME
) standard, which requires a proprietary, closed-source module with per-browser licensing. Although Mozilla sought to protest against this, ultimately they were forced to implement it regardless.
More recently, Google has sought to improve Chrome’s advertising targeting capabilities, with Federated Learning of Cohorts (
FLoC
) in 2021, which was marketed as a more friendly, interest-based form of advertising than tracking with cookies. After negative feedback from many sources, Google quietly dropped FLoC, but not before renaming it to Topics API and trying to ram it through again.
Although it’s easy to call Google ‘evil’ here and point out that they dropped the ‘do no evil’ tagline, it’s important to note the context here. When Microsoft was bundling Internet Explorer with Windows and enjoying a solid browser market share, it was doing so from the position as a software company, leading to it leveraging this advantage for features like ActiveX in corporate settings.
Meanwhile Google is primarily an
advertising company
which makes it reasonable for them to leverage their browser near-monopoly for their own benefit. Meanwhile Mozilla’s Firefox browser is scraping by with a <5%
market share
. Mozilla has also changed since the early 2000s from a non-profit to a for-profit model, and
its revenue
comes from search query royalties, donations and in-browser ads.
The somewhat depressing picture that this paints is that unless you restrict the scope of the browser as Pale Moon does (no DRM, no WebRTC, no WebVR, etc.), you are not going to keep up with core HTML, CSS and JS functionality without a large (paid) team of developers, meanwhile beholden to the Big RGB Gorilla in the room in the form of Google setting the course of new functionality, including the removal of support for
image formats
while adding its own.
Where From Here
Although taking Google on head-first would be foolishness worthy of
Don Quixote
, there are ways that we can change things for the better. One is to demand that websites we use and/or maintain follow either the
Progressive Enhancement
or
Graceful Degradation
design philosophy. The latter item is something that is integral with HTML and CSS designs, with the absence of, or error in any of the CSS files merely leading to the HTML document being displayed without formatting, yet with the text and images visible and any URLs usable.
Progressive enhancement is similar, but more of a bottom-up approach, where the base design targets a minimum set of features, usually just HTML and CSS, with the availability of JavaScript support in the browser enhancing the experience, without affecting the core functionality for anyone entering the site with JS disabled (via NoScript and/or blocker like µMatrix). As a bonus, doing this is great for accessibility (like screenreaders) and for search-engine-optimization as all text will be clearly readable for crawler bots which tend to not use JS.
Perhaps using methods like these we as users of the WWW can give some hint to Google and kin as to what we’d like things to be like. Considering the trend of limiting the modern web to only browsers with only the latest, bleeding-edge features and the correct User-Agent string (with
Discourse
as a major offender), it would seem that such grassroots efforts may be the most effective in the long run, along with ensuring that alternative, non-Chromium browsers are not faced with extinction. | 52 | 22 | [
{
"comment_id": "6636194",
"author": "THOMAS R CHERRYHOMES",
"timestamp": "2023-04-27T14:05:02",
"content": "Gee, it’s awfully nice, that some of you are waking up to the alarm bells that we were sounding in the aughts, long after we can do something about it.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1... | 1,760,372,319.088409 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2023/04/27/is-an-ads-b-receiver-the-solution-for-drone-pilots/ | Is An ADS-B Receiver The Solution For Drone Pilots? | Jenny List | [
"drone hacks"
] | [
"ads-b",
"drone",
"drone law",
"multirotor"
] | Over the years here at Hackaday, we’ve covered a range of stories about the ongoing panic surrounding drone flights. From plastic bags reported as drone incidents through to airports closed with no evidence of drones being involved, it’s clear that drone fliers are an embattled group facing a legal and aeronautical establishment that seems to understand little about them or their craft.
It sometimes seems to be a no-win situation for fliers, but perhaps [XJet] has something which might improve matters.
He’s published a video showing off a portable ADS-B receiver
which could be used by drone pilots to check for any aircraft in the vicinity and perhaps more importantly allow the drone community to take the moral high ground when problems occur.
The receiver isn’t particularly special, being a Raspberry Pi with LCD screen and an RTL-SDR receiver in a nice 3D printed enclosure. He says he’ll be publishing all software and build details in due course. But it’s the accessibility which makes it such a good idea, instead of being a very expensive safety device it’s a receiver that could probably be made with a less powerful Pi for under $100.
There is of course a flaw in the plan, that not all pilots are concerned enough for their safety to fit an ADS-B transponder to their aircraft, and so are invisible to both the thus-equipped drone pilot and air traffic control alike. This puts the onus on pilots to consider ADS-B an essential, but from the drone flier’s point of view we’d consider that a spotter should be part of their group anyway.
Curious what the fuss is about?
Let us take you on a journey
.
Thanks [Hackbyte] for the tip. | 45 | 12 | [
{
"comment_id": "6636143",
"author": "Satadru Pramanik",
"timestamp": "2023-04-27T11:24:19",
"content": "Why not just equip drones with TCAS? Should drones also be required to transmit ADSB information?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "6636147"... | 1,760,372,319.216382 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2023/04/27/versatile-dram-board-adds-memory-to-any-heathkit-h8-variant/ | Versatile DRAM Board Adds Memory To Any Heathkit H8 Variant | Robin Kearey | [
"Retrocomputing"
] | [
"8080",
"8085",
"dram",
"dram controller",
"heathkit h8",
"z80"
] | Ask anyone to name a first-generation home computer from the 1970s, and they’ll probably mention the likes of the Altair 8800 and IMSAI 8080. But those iconic machines weren’t the only options available to hobbyists back in the day: Heathkit, famous for its extensive range of electronic devices sold in kit form, jumped on the microcomputer bandwagon with their H8. Though it always remained a bit of an obscure machine, several dedicated enthusiasts kept making H8-compatible hardware and software long after the computer itself went out of production. That tradition continues in 2023, with [Scott M. Baker] producing
a brand-new DRAM board that’s compatible with any version of the H8
.
Although the Heathkit H8 was designed around the Intel 8080 processor, it could also be equipped with a Z80. [Scott] had built an 8085 based CPU board as well, meaning that any other hardware he developed for the H8 had to support these three processors. For something as timing-critical as a memory board, this turned out to be way harder than he’d expected.
First off, he had already made things difficult for himself by choosing DRAM rather than the simpler SRAM. Whereas SRAM chips can be more or less directly hooked up to the CPU’s address and data buses, a DRAM setup needs refresh circuitry to ensure the data doesn’t leak out of the chips’ internal capacitors. [Scott] decided to use the classic D8203 DRAM controller to do that for him — a solution that was pretty common back in the day.
Getting the timing right for all signals between the CPU and the DRAM controller was not at all trivial, however. The main problem was with two signals, called
/SACK
and
/XACK
, which were used to pause memory access during refresh cycles. Depending on which CPU was on the other side, these signals apparently had to be combined with other signals, stored in a flip-flop or delayed by a cycle or two in order to align with the processor’s internal logic. None of this seemed to work reliably, so [Scott] looked elsewhere for inspiration.
Luckily, traces are easy to follow on a two-layer board.
He found this on eBay, where a few vintage H8-compatible DRAM boards were for sale. Although [Scott] didn’t manage to win the auction, the eventual buyer was kind enough to snap some high-resolution pictures of the board which enabled him to reverse-engineer the circuit. The board used the similar D8202 DRAM controller and came with logic that generated the proper signals to interface with the 8080 and 8085 CPUs. For the Z80, [Scott] dived into the documentation for Heathkit’s Z80 option and found a schematic with a few logic gates that would satisfy the Zilog chip as well.
[Scott] combined both of these solutions on a beautiful 1980s-style printed circuit board, with a bunch of 7400 series logic gates and even two GAL22V10 programmable logic devices. With full documentation and Gerber files available on
the project’s GitHub page
, Heathkit H8 owners can now get their own brand-new memory board — in kit form, as a Heathkit should be.
There are several enthusiasts
keeping the various Heathkit computer models up and running
, and even producing completely new ones. The Heath Company also
still exists
, selling electronic kits to this day.
Thanks for the tip, [Adrian]! | 6 | 3 | [
{
"comment_id": "6636163",
"author": "Steven-X",
"timestamp": "2023-04-27T12:25:06",
"content": "I remember those heathkits. Like the Edmund Scientific caatalog of that era, the Heathkit catalog was nerd porn. But i also had a paper route budget. Once i got a job that paid real money, I chose a 75 F... | 1,760,372,319.135844 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2023/04/26/leonardo-da-vincis-visualization-of-gravity-as-a-form-of-acceleration/ | Leonardo Da Vinci’s Visualization Of Gravity As A Form Of Acceleration | Maya Posch | [
"Science"
] | [
"gravity",
"leonardo da vinci"
] | Although we take a lot of scientific knowledge for granted today, each of the basics – whether it be about light, gravity, mass or the shape of the Earth – had to be theorized and experimentally verified. In the case of gravity, as far back as around 500 BCE the Ionian Greek philosopher Heraclitus theorized on the balance created by what we came to call ‘gravity’. Later, the Greek philosopher Aristotle coined his own postulations and Greek physicist Archimedes did research that led him to discover the center of mass. Centuries later, the Roman engineer and architect Vitruvius argued for the concept of specific gravity rather than mass alone.
Da Vinci’s sketch and the Caltech experiment replicating it.
Although scientific pursuits in this area ground to a halt in Europe during medieval times, the Renaissance saw a renewed interest in the topic, with
newly published research
performed on
Leonardo da Vinci
‘s notes showing that he appears to – unsurprisingly – have also created a number of experiments aimed at determining the properties of gravity. One of the major limitations of the 15th century was that many of the basic scientific tools we have come to rely on since the 19th century such as accurate clocks, along with many other products of advanced alloys and metallurgy simply did not exist. Da Vinci’s experiment in this context is nothing if not ingenious in its simplicity.
By the time of the European Renaissance, the Aristotelian
concept of gravity
as solely a factor of an object’s mass was dismissed by many in favor of a model that saw the motion of an object affected by its velocity and mass, also influenced by works published by Persian scholars. When Da Vinci set up his experiment, he focused specifically on the acceleration of the falling objects by pouring a large number of granules or possibly water droplets from a pitcher which was being pulled along a straight path. He theorized that if the pitcher was being accelerated at the same rate as the objects are accelerating due to gravity, it’d create a isosceles right triangle.
When the researchers ran his experiment and compared Da Vinci’s notes on the results, they realized that although he had made a mistake in his model, at the small scale this would not have affected the results, making it valid and an early precursor to what later be published by Isaac Newton in the 17th century. | 20 | 5 | [
{
"comment_id": "6636107",
"author": "Tyler D Becker",
"timestamp": "2023-04-27T06:46:21",
"content": "If you spin them fast enough do they fly upwards?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "6636708",
"author": "Haywood J. Blome",
"t... | 1,760,372,319.485298 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2023/04/26/tactile-feedback-in-vr-no-cumbersome-gloves-or-motors-required/ | Tactile Feedback In VR, No Cumbersome Gloves Or Motors Required | Donald Papp | [
"Virtual Reality",
"Wearable Hacks"
] | [
"haptics",
"tactile feedback",
"touch",
"vr"
] | This clever research from the University of Chicago’s Human Computer Integration Lab demonstrates a fascinating way to
let users “feel” objects in VR, without anything getting in the way of using one’s hands and fingers normally
. Certainly, the picture here shows hands with a device attached to them, but look closely and you’ll see that it’s on the back of the hand only.
There’s hardware attached to the hands, yes, but only to the backs. Hands and fingers can be used entirely normally while receiving tactile feedback.
The unique device consists of a control box, wires, and some electrodes attached to different spots on the back of the hand and fingers. Carefully modulated electrical signals create tactile sensations on the front, despite originating from electrodes on the back. While this has clear applications for VR, the team thinks the concept could also have applications in rehabilitation, or prosthetics.
The way it works is pretty clever. Electrical signals traverse the tissues of the hand, passing through nerves in both the front and back. But the front (palmar) side of the hand has roughly 60 times more receptors than the back, which makes the front of the hand far more sensitive. Even though the same electrical stimulus is hitting both sets of nerves, the sensation is overwhelmingly felt and localized at the front of the hand, despite originating from the back.
With careful modulation, sensations at 11 different points can be reliably targeted in this way. It’s possible to feel the touch of a button or the shape of a non-existent object in VR, all without interfering with how the hand normally works. In fact, one demo shows the user molding a lump of clay while still being able to distinctly feel the tactile feedback created by this system.
The sensations felt are still “phantom” touches (in the sense that there is no force behind them) so it cannot constrain the user physically the way
a glove with actuators can
. But not having anything obstructing the normal function of hands and fingers is a powerful advantage.
There’s a short video embedded below that demonstrates things, so give it a watch. And for those who crave nitty-gritty details,
here’s a link to the research paper
. | 9 | 6 | [
{
"comment_id": "6636084",
"author": "WereCatf",
"timestamp": "2023-04-27T04:08:26",
"content": "As neat as the idea is, I, for one, don’t want to don one single item on me unless they can first make the headsets far less of a nuisance. I mean, the headsets currently are so much of an uncomfortable ... | 1,760,372,319.278067 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2023/04/26/vcf-east-2023-adrian-black-on-keeping-retro-alive/ | VCF East 2023: Adrian Black On Keeping Retro Alive | Tom Nardi | [
"Interviews",
"Retrocomputing"
] | [
"VCF East 2023",
"Vintage Computer Festival East"
] | While roaming the halls of Vintage Computer Festival East 2023,
we ran into [Adrian Black]
, who was eager to talk about the importance of classic computing in his own life and how his experience hosting the YouTube channel
Adrian’s Digital Basement
has impacted him these last few years.
On his channel, [Adrian] spends most of his time repairing vintage systems or exploring little-known aspects of hardware from the early days of desktop computing. His exploits have brought him to the pages of Hackaday in the past, most recently just last month, when we covered his work to
add an RGB interface to a mid-1990s Sony Trinitron CRT
display. But in talking to him, you quickly realize he’d be working on the very same projects whether the camera was rolling or not. He’s not out to game the YouTube algorithm; he’s just having a good time in the basement poking around with the sort of old gear that at one time would have been completely out of reach.
Exploring a rare SWTPC 6800 computer
In fact, it’s this sense of nostalgia that [Adrian] believes is responsible not just for the growing popularity of his channel but for the retrocomputing community as a whole. For many who grew up with these machines, they were far too expensive or complex to ever crack open (literally and figuratively) when they were new. Now, decades later, people like himself finally find themselves able to buy and enjoy these once-coveted objects.
Critically, they now also have the skills to do them justice, not to mention access to a worldwide community of like-minded folks who are still producing hardware and software that can be used with these classic machines. For those of a certain age, it’s literally a dream come true.
[Adrian] was just one of the retro aficionados we got a chance to talk to during VCF East 2023.
We already brought you the chat we had with [Andy Geppert]
about magnetic core memory and his Core64 device, but there’s plenty more to come. Stay tuned. | 3 | 3 | [
{
"comment_id": "6636059",
"author": "sqelch",
"timestamp": "2023-04-27T00:40:27",
"content": "Gotta say, it is wonderful that Adrian is getting recognized more. He is an excellent presenter and teacher for lack of a better term. I watch his stuff all the time. I get to experience all sorts of compu... | 1,760,372,319.325336 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2023/04/26/printed-gas-can-accessories-make-refueling-a-little-neater/ | Printed Gas Can Accessories Make Refueling A Little Neater | Dan Maloney | [
"home hacks"
] | [
"gasoline",
"ice",
"internal combustion",
"Nozzle"
] | No matter what your position is on internal combustion engines, it’s pretty safe to assume everyone is on the same page regarding wasting fossil fuels: it’s a bad thing. And nothing is as frustrating as spilling even a drop of the precious stuff before you even get a chance to burn it.
Unfortunately, the design of gas cans, at least here in North America, seems to have been optimized for fuel spillage. Not willing to settle for that, [avishekcode] came up with
a 3D-printable replacement nozzle
that should make dispensing gas a bit neater. It’s designed to fit one of the more popular brands of gasoline jugs available here in the States, and rather than the complicated stock nozzle, which includes a spring-operated interlock that has to be physically forced into a filler neck to open the valve, the replacement is just a slender tube with a built-in air vent. The vent keeps a vacuum from forming in the gas can and makes for a smooth, easy-to-control flow of gas and less spillage. The video below shows it in action.
The obvious issue here is chemical compatibility, since gasoline doesn’t work and play well with all plastics. [avishekcode] reports that both PLA and PETG versions of the nozzle have performed well for up to two years before cracking enough to need replacement. And then, of course, the solution is just to print another one. There may be legal issues, too — some localities have ordinances regarding gasoline storage and dispensing, so it’s best to check before you print.
Of course, one way to avoid the problems associated with storing and dispensing gasoline is to convert to electric power tools and vehicles. But as we’ve seen,
that presents other problems
.
[via
r/functionalprint
] | 45 | 14 | [
{
"comment_id": "6636010",
"author": "Patrick T.",
"timestamp": "2023-04-26T20:37:56",
"content": "Wow there bud, speak for yourselves in the United States, we have no issues of the kind in Canada, where a lot of these cans are made (Scepter). We have no legislation governing the pouring apparatus o... | 1,760,372,319.569798 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2023/04/26/hackaday-prize-2023-the-assistive-tech-challenge-starts-now/ | Hackaday Prize 2023: The Assistive Tech Challenge Starts Now | Tom Nardi | [
"contests",
"The Hackaday Prize"
] | [
"2023 Hackaday Prize",
"assistive device",
"assistive technology"
] | We’d all love to change the world and make it a better place, but let’s be honest…that’s a pretty tall order. Even the best of ideas, implemented perfectly, can only do so much globally. But that doesn’t mean the individual can’t make a difference — you just need to think on a different scale. If improving
everyone’s
life is a bit out of reach, why not settle for a smaller group? Or perhaps even just one person?
That’s precisely what we’re looking for in the
Assistive Tech Challenge
of the
2023 Hackaday Prize
. In this Challenge, we’re asking the community to come up with ideas to help those with disabilities live fuller and more comfortable lives.
Whether you help develop an improved prosthesis that could benefit thousands, or design a bespoke communication device that gives a voice to just a single individual, it’s hard to imagine a more noble way to put your skills and knowledge to use.
Looking to lend a hand? You’ve got from now until May 30th to enter your Assistive Tech project. It doesn’t matter what kind of impairment it focuses on — so long as it helps somebody work, learn, or play, it’s fair game to us.
The ten finalists for this Challenge will be announced around June 12th, but you’ll have to wait until Hackaday Supercon in November to find out which projects take home their share of the more than $100,000 in cash prizes graciously provided by sponsors Digi-Key and SupplyFrame.
A History of Helpful Hacks
In 2023 we’re celebrating ten years of the Hackaday Prize, and in many of those past competitions, we’ve included some challenge or special consideration for assistive tech. If you’re looking for a way to enrich your time on this this planet, helping those in need is a pretty good way to go about it, and we’re proud to help facilitate that sort of kindly hacking anytime we can.
Winner of the 2020 Hackaday Prize
During the 2020 Hackaday Prize, the
BYTE hands-free interface was awarded the Grand Prize of $50,000 USD
. The low-cost gadget allowed the user to control an electronic device, in its most common configuration a computer, by moving their tongue and biting down to make a selection. It’s essentially a mouse you manipulate with your mouth, with the added benefit of having a vibration motor for haptic feedback and sensitive enough components that various functions could be performed based on the strength of the bite.
At the most basic level, BYTE would allow those with limited limb mobility to operate a standard computer by emulating a standard USB human-interface device (HID) — no expensive software or proprietary hardware interface required. But the potential applications for the technology are vast. With only minimal adjustments, it’s not hard to imagine BYTE being used to control a motorized wheelchair or smart home.
If you’re still short on inspiration, we can turn the clock back to 2017 and look at the
finalists of that year’s Assistive Technologies challenge
. These twenty projects tackled a wide-range of ailments, from
helping the blind orient themselves within a space
with an array of haptic feedback distance sensors, to an
open source wheelchair design
that could be built anywhere in the world using common materials.
Such ambitious projects are of course noteworthy, but this batch of winners also includes entries which show the need for more personal solutions. Take for example the digital music player that
disguises itself as 1940s technology
, allowing older dementia patients to enjoy the simple pleasure of listening to their favorite songs. Or the camera-based system that lets users
control a television just by moving their head
.
These projects may seem trivial to those of us fortunate enough not to need them, but for those that do, these devices can mean regaining a piece of independence they may have thought was lost forever.
Reach Out and Help Someone
Ready to change somebody’s life for the better? You’ve got a little more than a month to enter your project into the Assistive Tech Challenge, where it could end up being one of the 10 Finalists that take home $500. From there, who knows? Your project might just make it into the Top 5, and enter the annals of Hackaday Prize history.
The
Hackaday
Prize 2023
is Sponsored by: | 1 | 1 | [
{
"comment_id": "6636533",
"author": "Chad Leaman",
"timestamp": "2023-04-28T14:01:25",
"content": "If people are looking for ideas, Makers Making Change’s forum has lots of requests from people with disabilities looking for solutions:https://makersmakingchange.com/forum/forums/design-challenges/",
... | 1,760,372,319.61907 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2023/04/26/smoke-some-weeds-lasers-could-make-herbicide-obsolete/ | Smoke Some Weeds: Lasers Could Make Herbicide Obsolete | Lewin Day | [
"Engineering",
"green hacks",
"Interest",
"Original Art",
"Science"
] | [
"agriculture",
"chemical",
"chemicals",
"crops",
"farm",
"farmer",
"farming",
"herbicide",
"laser",
"lasers",
"weeding",
"weeds"
] | We’ve all tangled with unwelcome plant life at one point or another. Whether crabgrass infested your lawn, or you were put on weeding duty in your grandfather’s rose patch, you’ll know they’re a pain to remove, and a pain to prevent. For farmers, just imagine the same problem, but scaled up to cover thousands of acres.
Dealing with weeds typically involves harsh chemicals or excessive manual labor. Lasers could prove to be a new tool in the fight against this scourge, however, as covered by the
BBC
.
The Status Quo
Large liquid chemical sprayers like the Goldacres Crop Cruiser are the standard way many farmers deal with weeds today. Credit: Goldacres
Weeds cause all kind of problems for farming operations. They rob precious moisture and nutrients from the soil, and can crowd out the crops themselves from growing properly. In dire cases, they can contaminate food crops,
making them unsafe for human consumption.
To deal with weeds, farmers typically use giant spraying apparatus to hose their fields down with herbicides at regular intervals, both prior to planting and during the crop growth phase. These can range from small back-pack mounted apparatus, to gigantic self-propelled machines with 50-meter-wide booms that can spray 10,000 liters of anti-weed agents in a single day.
Recent developments in the weed-killing space have involved using camera systems to differentiate crops from weeds in the field. A variety of techniques are used, from imaging with multi-spectral cameras, to the use of AI systems. Conventional spraying machines can then be fitted with special controllable nozzles that target herbicide application onto weeds directly. This saves huge amounts of chemical versus spraying entire fields indiscriminately.
A Green Day
That same technology could help eliminate the need for herbicides entirely. Weeds identified by a camera system can be targeted with high-powered lasers instead of using chemicals to destroy them. One such system has been developed by Carbon Robotics, and is known as
the LaserWeeder.
Towed behind a tractor, the LaserWeeder is capable of killing up to 200,000 weeds per hour using an array of thirty 150W carbon dioxide lasers, operating at 10.6 um in the infrared range. Twelve high-resolution cameras are used to image the soil surface, identifying weeds for destruction. The system requires 60 kW of power to run, which is sourced from a generator run by the tractor’s PTO shaft. The apparatus is able to cover a 20-foot width, and is adjustable to suit a variety of crop row spacings.
It’s a simple idea that nonetheless requires great technological sophistication to pull off. The laser system must be accurate to a sub-millimeter level to hit the weeds in the right spot on the meristem to ensure a successful kill. The results are worthwhile, though. Laser weeding eliminates the need to use expensive chemicals on an entire field. Instead, the budding weeds are instantly destroyed by the laser, with their remains simply breaking down in the soil. It also eliminates the problem of spray drift, where the wind carries herbicide away from a targeted crop. As a bonus, the LaserWeeder can also
thin out crops
that have been overseeded, helping improve yields come harvest time.
Laser weeding is a no-contact method that could drastically slash chemical use in farming. Credit: Carbon Robotics
Laser weeding, along with all targeted weeding solutions, could come up against new hurdles in future, though. Evolution may yet rear its ugly head. Historically, some weed species have evolved a resistance to various common herbicides, making them far more difficult to deal with. The same could happen here. AI image recognition systems rely on unique visual features to determine if a plant is a desired crop or a hated weed. Thus, such a system could create evolutionary pressure on weeds in the field. That could help breed harmful weeds that begin to visually emulate surrounding crops for their own survival.
The technology does have one major drawback: speed. At just 20 feet wide, and running at a speed of 1 mile per hour, the LaserWeeder covers just 2 acres per hour. In comparison, rates of up to 200 acres per hour are possible with large self-propelled sprayers in the field. It bears noting that figure can be cut in half when accounting for the time taken to refill the chemical tank, but it’s still a huge point in favor of traditional spraying. In time, the company hopes to launch an autonomous LaserWeeder that will negate this problem, but it’s a ways in the future yet.
Currently, the company has focused on sales in the US and Canada, and has tested the LaserWeeder hardware on a variety of crops including potatoes, onions, and garlic. The AI image recognition system is set up to work with over 40 crops in total. Expansion into European markets is on the company’s agenda moving forward.
For now, laser weeding is a nascent field that could yet change agriculture across the world. Few farmers relish the days spent mixing up chemicals and babysitting their sprayers in the field, nor do they enjoy the cost outlay. A non-contact weed control method with less consumables would be welcomed as a game changer by many. Expect to see the practice of laser weeding explode in coming years if it proves as successful as its creators hope. | 53 | 21 | [
{
"comment_id": "6635954",
"author": "TG",
"timestamp": "2023-04-26T17:12:11",
"content": "Reducing the amount of atrazine and glyphosate in our bodies is of tantamount importance. I am skeptical but I sure hope this thing works",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
... | 1,760,372,319.712519 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2023/04/26/nuke-your-own-uranium-glass-castings-in-the-microwave/ | Nuke Your Own Uranium Glass Castings In The Microwave | Dan Maloney | [
"classic hacks"
] | [
"casting",
"glass",
"glassmaking",
"kiln",
"microwave",
"molding",
"plaster",
"silicone",
"U3O8",
"uranium"
] | Fair warning: if you’re going to try to
mold uranium glass in a microwave kiln
, you might want to not later use the oven for preparing food. Just a thought.
A little spicy…
Granted, uranium glass isn’t as dangerous as it might sound. Especially considering its creepy green glow, which almost seems to be somehow self-powered. The uranium glass used by [gigabecquerel] for this project is only about 1% U
3
O
8
, and isn’t really
that
radioactive. But radioactive or not, melting glass inside a microwave can be problematic, and appropriate precautions should be taken. This would include making the raw material for the project, called frit, which was accomplished by smacking a few bits of uranium glass with a hammer. We’d recommend a respirator and some good ventilation for this step.
The powdered uranium glass then goes into a graphite-coated plaster mold, which was made from a silicone mold, which in turn came from a 3D print. The charged mold then goes into a microwave kiln, which is essentially an insulating chamber that contains a silicon carbide crucible inside a standard microwave oven. Although it seems like [gigabecquerel] used a commercially available kiln, we recently saw a
DIY metal-melting microwave forge
that would probably do the trick.
The actual casting process is pretty simple — it’s really just ten minutes in the microwave on high until the frit gets hot enough to liquefy and flow into the mold. The results were pretty good; the glass medallion picked up the detail in the mold, but also the crack that developed in the plaster. [gigabecquerel] thinks that a mold milled from solid graphite would work better, but he doesn’t have the facilities for that. If anyone tries this out, we’d love to hear about it. | 20 | 5 | [
{
"comment_id": "6635944",
"author": "L",
"timestamp": "2023-04-26T16:14:46",
"content": "“Not THAT radioactive”. Yeah yeah. I heard this about an old camera lens that is supposed to be “not THAT radioactive|. In the 60s Japanese firms (Pentax in particular) used Thorium doped glass because it has a... | 1,760,372,319.774488 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2023/04/26/parametric-design-with-tinkercad/ | Parametric Design With Tinkercad | Al Williams | [
"3d Printer hacks",
"Hackaday Columns",
"Slider"
] | [
"3D modelling",
"parametric design",
"programming",
"tinkercad"
] | Tinkercad is like the hamburger helper of 3D design. You hate to admit you use it, and you know you should put in more effort, but — darn it — it’s easy, and it tastes pretty good. While I use a number of CAD programs for serious work, sometimes, when I just want a little widget like a flange for my laser cutter’s exhaust, it is just easier to do it in a few minutes with Tinkercad. However, I heard someone complaining the other day that it wasn’t of any use anymore because they took away custom shape generators. That statement is only partially true. Codeblocks allow you to easily create custom parametric items for use in Tinkercad.
A Tinkercad-designed
flange
There was a time when you could write Javascript to create custom shapes, and it is true that they removed that feature. However, they replaced it with Codeblocks which is much easier to use for their target audience — young students — and still very powerful.
If you’ve used parametric design in a professional package or even used something like OpenSCAD, you probably don’t need to be sold on the benefit. This is, of course, a simple form of it, but the idea is to define things as mathematical relationships. As an example, suppose you have a front panel with two rows of four holes for switches evenly spaced and centered. That would be easy to draw. But if you later decide the top row needs five holes and the bottom only needs three, it will be a fair amount of work. But if you have the math defining it right, you change a few variables, and the computer does the rest.
The Third Thinkercad Thing
When you go to the Tinkercad website, you probably notice there are two extra selections in addition to 3D design. One is Circuits which lets you build and simulate simple electronic circuits that include Arduinos and other items. The other item is Codeblocks. You might assume that is a way to program the Arduinos in the simulation, but that’s not what it is. It turns out there is something very similar in the circuit simulator for that purpose. But Codeblocks is for creating new parts for use either on their own or as new parts within Tinkercad.
If you are familiar with OpenSCAD, the idea is that it is sort of Scratch and OpenSCAD merged together. Sort of. There are a few things that are, perhaps, less than ideal, but overall, it works well. The block language doesn’t have some things like if/then/else statements. Handling variables is a bit clunky, but possible. The way you produce reusable parts is very wacky, but once you get used to it, it isn’t bad.
But the worst part is that there is no “round tripping.” That is, suppose you create a template for a bracket and you produce one that is 10 cm long in your Tinkercad design. Changing the bracket design won’t update the existing design. You’d need to export the part, delete it from the design and put it back in. Of course, that can also be a feature, depending on how you look at it. Changing a part tomorrow won’t mess up your design from three months ago. But when you are tweaking a design, it is a bit annoying.
Getting Started
Like all things Tinkercad, the user interface is very colorful. You’ll see a shape palette to the left, a workspace in the center, and something that looks suspiciously like the Tinkercad workplane on the right. If you try to do things over in the right panel, you’ll be frustrated. It is just a preview. You can do anything significant there other than shift your viewpoint.
The top bar controls execution
The top strip has a slider labeled “Speed,” a play button, a step button, and a reset button. There are also buttons for export and share. Most of the time, you will want to jam that speed slider all the way over to the right, but if you are trying to debug something, you might want to slow it down. The step button just goes one step at a time, regardless of the speed.
Programming
The tools and the blocks they make are color-coded. Blue items are shapes just like you might find on Tinkercad’s normal screen. When you drag the block over to the middle pane, you’ll see some parameters that look like slots for numbers. It is true that you can change those default numbers with other numbers, but you can also put certain other blocks inside.
The purple tools all modify objects. You’ll use these often as everything is in the center at first. If you want it somewhere else, you use the purple
Move
block. There are also blocks that can rotate and all the other things you expect. The
Create New Object
block is also important but tricky, as you will see.
Orange tools are controls and offer two types of loops. One is a simple repeat. The other is like a for loop and creates a variable you can use. Green tools do math operations, while light blue tools represent variables. You use the green
Create Variable
block to make a variable. Oddly, the variable is always called
item
, and then you can rename it to something else. Just be careful: if you make, say, five blocks that create
item
and rename one of them, you will rename all of them! So rename as soon as you drag one block over, and don’t call any of your real variables
item
.
The final group is just comments and debug messages. Those are trivial but great for documentation and debugging.
The variables and math blocks are the keys to making things parameterized. Consider this:
This box’s width is set by a math expression that uses a variable
Here we have a variable. In the shape, I dragged a math block in and then dragged the variable from the “data” section to the first slot in the math block. Then I changed the operation to divide and set the other slot to 2. It is tricky; you have to watch the cursor preview to see where things will drop, and it is even trickier when you want to replace things. As you drag, the part you are dropping into will light up. It is possible to, for example, drop something into the math block or drop something that will replace the math block. Anything that gets replaced usually winds up detached and behind everything. It is usually harmless but still annoying.
Value
Of course, if you just plug numbers into shapes, there isn’t much value to that. The big payoff is when you want things to move and resize independently or you want to step and repeat using loops. Another valuable technique is creating a template that you can then use over and over again. Here’s a simple component that illustrates all of this:
A face plate defined parametrically
The idea here is that the four “clover leaf” holes should be inset from the corners of the plate, no matter how big or small it is. The “star” hole in the center should also adjust based on size.
Variables for the plate
You could, of course, just manually create all the features using these variables, but that’s not really the point. Instead, I’ll create several new objects using
Create New Object
. The objects are:
slot4
(the clover leaf slot),
Star
(the center star), and
object0
(the main object).
Here’s the problem. When you tell the program to create a new object, it just groups things together. But it still draws them in the center of your workspace. What I have found works well is to think of these parts as “templates” and then use the
Add Copy of Object
block to actually make a new instance of the object.
Codeblocks run from top to bottom, so the templates must be physically above where you want to use them. Then at the end of the whole thing, I’ll use
Delete Object
to remove the templates.
In this case, the sequence of events will be:
Create the clover leaf hole template
Create the star hole template
Draw the box
Copy the clover leaf template as a hole four times and move it to its final location
Copy the star template as a hole
Delete the templates
Group everything together
You can find the
code online
if you want to try it yourself. It is important to remember that everything is centered at point (0,0,0) until you move it. So expect to divide things by two a lot. It is often handy to set up a nested set of math boxes you can duplicate that looks like this.
This way, you can take a point and make it positive or negative, scale it, and offset it all in one block. You’ll note the center hole uses a for loop, which provides variable
i
. Even though the star has eight points, the code loops four times. Since the box that forms the star’s arms rotate around the center, each time through the loop creates two opposite points.
To Tinkercad
If all you needed was the plate, then you are ready to go. Press Export, and you can create an STL, OBJ, or SVG. However, one of the other options is “Shape.” That’s how you get it into your Tinkercad tool palette. You can give the part a name, a description, and a color. Optionally, you can lock the part size so no one can rescale it in the normal Tinkercad editor.
Once you finish the export, the part will appear in the normal shape library under “Your Creations.” You can place it like any other Tinerkcad shape, and if you allowed it during the export, you could resize it there.
So while the custom shape generator is gone, its spirit lives on in Codeblocks. Is it perfect? No. Honestly, if I were just going to do the whole part like this, I’d probably turn to OpenSCAD. But if you need to support custom shapes in Tinkercad, Codeblocks is perfectly serviceable.
Think Tinkercad is just kid stuff? [Jay Doscher]
begs to differ
. You can even do simple
physics simulations
in the tool. | 32 | 7 | [
{
"comment_id": "6635927",
"author": "Bob",
"timestamp": "2023-04-26T14:22:41",
"content": "The only reason I use TinkerCAD and sticking with it for now, is because it’s not parametric. My head doesn’t allow me to work in reverse. I know other software applications can create much more powerful 3D r... | 1,760,372,319.854456 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2023/04/26/the-goalie-mask-reenvisioned/ | The Goalie Mask, Reenvisioned | Bryan Cockfield | [
"Games"
] | [
"dyneema",
"fiber",
"frame",
"goalie",
"hockey",
"mask",
"sports",
"thread"
] | The goalie mask, at least the retro-styled fiberglass types from the 60s and 70s, hasn’t been used in hockey for about 50 years — it’s instead made many more appearances in horror movies than on ice rinks. Since then, though, there’s been very little innovation surrounding the goalie mask even though there’s much more modern technology that could theoretically give them even greater visibility. [Surjan Singh] is hoping to use his engineering and hockey backgrounds
to finally drive some improvements
.
The “uncage” is based on Dyneema thread, a polyethylene fiber known for its strength and durability. It’s often used in applications that demand high strength with minimal weight, such as for sails or backpacking equipment. Using strands of Dyneema woven through a metal support structure is what gives this mask its high strength while also improving the visibility through it dramatically. [Surjan] has been
prototyping this design extensively
, as there were some issues with the fibers chafing on attachment points on the metal frame, but most of these issues have been ironed out or are being worked on currently.
In the meantime, [Surjan] has been looking for a professional-level goalie to help refine his design further and does seem to have some interest, but it doesn’t seem to have progressed past testing in the more controlled test environments yet. It’s not too far-fetched to imagine this as the future of goalie masks in professional hockey though since some innovation after 50 years of relative stagnation seems to be due. For something more accessible to those of us not currently playing in the NHL, though, you can
wheel, snipe, and celly on this air hockey table instead
. | 12 | 5 | [
{
"comment_id": "6635942",
"author": "craig",
"timestamp": "2023-04-26T15:57:06",
"content": "This plays like a pitch on an episode of Shark Tank.Visibility is not a problem that needs to be solved. batting helmets (for baseball), lacrosse helmets, American football and everything else has used the... | 1,760,372,319.900234 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2023/04/26/vectrex-light-pen-works-without-a-raster/ | Vectrex Light Pen Works Without A Raster | Jenny List | [
"Retrocomputing"
] | [
"Light Pen",
"vector display",
"vectrex"
] | Sometimes the simplest of projects end up revealing the most interesting of things, as for example is the case with [Ryo Mukai]’s
light pen for the Vectrex console
. It’s an extremely simple device using an integrated light sensor with built-in Schmitt trigger, but for us the magic isn’t in the pen itself but in discovering how it worked with the Vectrex’s vector graphics.
Light pens were a popular accessory in the 8-bit computing days, offering a relatively inexpensive pointing device that gave your micro an even more futuristic feel. On most computers that used a raster-scanning TV display they simply picked up the flying dot on the screen as it passed the end of the pen, but the Vectrex with its display not scanning all of the screen at once needed a different approach.
This piqued our interest, and
the answer to how it was done came from PlayVectrex
. There was a target X on the screen which could be picked up with the pen, and when picked up it would surround itself with a circle. Crossing the dot as it flew round the circle would tell the console where the pen was, and the position would move to fit. For those of us who only saw a Vectrex in a shop window back in the day, mystery solved! We’ve placed a video showing the process below the break.
This isn’t the first light pen we’ve seen,
they can even be connected to modern computers, too
. | 6 | 3 | [
{
"comment_id": "6635895",
"author": "CRJEEA",
"timestamp": "2023-04-26T10:34:56",
"content": "I wonder if a variation of this trick could be employed to work with a modern monitor, so you could have a light pen, without having to emulate a raster scan. Perhaps you could get away with effectively sl... | 1,760,372,319.942555 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2023/04/25/bass-reactive-leds-for-your-car/ | Bass Reactive LEDs For Your Car | Abe Connelly | [
"car hacks"
] | [
"electret microphone",
"ESP32",
"fft",
"neopixel",
"rotary encoder",
"spectrogram"
] | [Stephen Carey] wanted to spruce up his car with sound reactive LEDs but couldn’t quite find the right project online. Instead, he wound up assembling a custom
bass reactive LED display
using an ESP32.
The entirety of the build is minimal, consisting of a GY-MAX4466 electret microphone module, a KY-040 encoder for some user control and an ESP32 attached to a Neopixel strip. The only additional electronic parts are some passive resistors to limit current on the data lines and a capacitor for power line noise suppression. [Stephen] uses various enclosures from Thingiverse for the microphone, rotary encoder and ESP32 box to make sure all the modules are protected and accessible.
The magic, of course, is in the software, with the CircuitPythyon
ulab
library used to do the heavy lifting of creating the spectrogram and frequency filtering. [Stephen] has made the
code is available
on GitHub for those wanting to take a closer look.
It wasn’t very long ago that sound reactive LEDs used to be a heavy lift, requiring
optimized FFT libraries
or specialized components to do the spectrogram. With faster and cheaper microcontroller boards, we’re seeing many great projects, like the
sensory bridge
or Raspberry Pi driven
LED spectrogram
, that can now take spectrograms and Fourier transform calculations as basic infrastructure to build on top of them. We’re happy to see [Stephen] leverage the ESP32’s speed and various circuit Python libraries to create a very cool LED car hack.
Video after the break! | 32 | 9 | [
{
"comment_id": "6635867",
"author": "Stuart Longland",
"timestamp": "2023-04-26T07:09:53",
"content": "… because everyone needs a distracting visual light show at their feet while they’re driving.I get everyone’s not the same, and many concentrate better with some music going than in total silence ... | 1,760,372,320.019218 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2023/04/25/reading-ptolemys-treatise-on-the-meteoroscope-on-palimpsests-after-centuries-of-recovery-attempts/ | Reading Ptolemy’s Treatise On The Meteoroscope On Palimpsests After Centuries Of Recovery Attempts | Maya Posch | [
"Science"
] | [
"meteoroscope",
"palimpsest",
"Ptolemy"
] | During the Middle Ages much of Ancient Greek and Roman scientific, legal and similarly significant texts written on parchment were commonly erased, mostly because of the high cost of new parchment and the little regard given to these secular texts. Although recovery attempts of the remaining faint outlines of the old text has been attempted since at least the 19th century, these often involved aggressive chemical means. Now researchers have
managed to recover
the text written by Ptolemy on a parchment that suffered such a previous recovery attempt.
The term for a parchment and similar on which the existing text was washed or scraped off is a
palimpsest
, via Latin from Ancient Greek παλίμψηστος
(
palímpsēstos
, from
παλίν
+
ψαω
= ‘again’ + ‘scrape’). In the case of this particular treatise, it is part of
L 99 sup
which is kept at the
Biblioteca Ambrosiana
in Milan, Italy. This collection contains fifteen palimpsest parchment leaves previously used for three Greek scientific texts: a text of unknown authorship on mathematical mechanics and catoptrics, known as the
Fragmentum Mathematicum Bobiense
(three leaves), Ptolemy’s
Analemma
(six leaves), and a so far unidentified astronomical text on six leaves.
Outermost six rings of the meteoroscope, not to scale. Nh, Sh, Eh, and Wh are cardinal points of the horizon; Ne and Se are the north and south celestial poles; Nz and Sz are the north and south poles of the ecliptic; and Z is the zenith. (Gysembergh et al., 2023)
It is this last text that has now been identified, courtesy of work by Victor Gysembergh and colleagues. Whereas 19th century palimpsest recovery attempts by
Angelo Mai
involved reagents, during the 20th century ultraviolet illumination became the preferred method, followed by similar non-destructive analysis methods. For this study UV fluorescence and multispectral reflectance imaging was employed, which allowed for significant more of the original Greek text to be uncovered. Most notable, this revealed Ptolemy’s treatise on the Meteoroscope, which is an instrument for measuring the position, length, and direction of the apparent path of a shooting star.
This new recovery builds upon text previously recovered by other researchers since Mai’s attempts, and fills in more details, although it must be noted that not all of the text has been recovered. It’s hoped that in future imaging sessions more can be recovered of this irreplaceable text, that like so many of its kind nearly got destroyed during Europe’s darkest era.
(Top image: Ambrosianus L 99 sup., p. 190, ll. 14–23, UV fluorescence image by Lumière Technology. Upside-down Latin overtext in dark brown and Greek undertext in light brown.) | 12 | 5 | [
{
"comment_id": "6635841",
"author": "Ostracus",
"timestamp": "2023-04-26T02:41:59",
"content": "Interesting how mass production makes historic preservation possible.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "6635849",
"author": "Andrew",
... | 1,760,372,320.125797 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2023/04/25/insulin-pump-teardown-shows-one-motor-does-many-jobs/ | Insulin Pump Teardown Shows One Motor Does Many Jobs | Donald Papp | [
"Medical Hacks",
"Teardown"
] | [
"insulin pump",
"teardown"
] | Modern insulin pumps are self-contained devices that attach to a user’s skin via an adhesive patch, and are responsible for administering insulin as needed. Curious as to what was inside, [Ido Roseman]
tore down an Omnipod Dash and took some pictures
showing what was inside.
A single motor handles inserting the cannula into the skin, retracting the insertion needle, and administering insulin.
These devices do quite a few things. In addition to holding a reservoir of insulin, they automatically insert a small cannula (thin tube) through the skin after being attached, communicate wirelessly with a control system, and pump insulin through the cannula as needed. All in a sealed and waterproof device. They are also essentially disposable, so [Ido] was curious about what kind of engineering went into such a thing.
The teardown stops short of identifying exactly how all the mechanisms inside work, but [Ido] was able to learn a few interesting things. For example, all of the mechanical functions — inserting the cannula with the help of a needle (and retracting the needle afterwards) and pumping insulin — are all accomplished by one motor and some clever mechanical engineering.
The electronics consist of a PCB with an NXP EX2105F 32-bit Arm7 microcontroller, a second chip that is likely responsible for the wireless communications, three captive LR44 button cells, and hardly a passive component in sight.
The software and communications side of an insulin pump like this one has
had its RF communications reverse-engineered with the help of an SDR
, a task that took a lot more work than one might expect. Be sure to follow that link if you’re interested in what it can take to get to the bottom of mystery 433 MHz communications on a device that isn’t interested in sharing. | 14 | 6 | [
{
"comment_id": "6635821",
"author": "Jake",
"timestamp": "2023-04-25T23:12:04",
"content": "There’s a great teardown video from 2016 herehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e2MQUUkubgsthat goes into more detail and figures out how the mechanism works.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"repli... | 1,760,372,320.074209 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2023/04/25/very-slow-movie-player-avoids-e-ink-ghosting-with-machine-learning/ | Very Slow Movie Player Avoids E-Ink Ghosting With Machine Learning | Donald Papp | [
"Software Hacks",
"Video Hacks"
] | [
"alien",
"e-ink",
"GaN",
"machine learning",
"very slow movie player"
] | [mat kelcey] was so impressed and inspired by the concept of a very slow movie player (which is the playing of a movie at a slow rate on a kind of DIY photo frame) that he
created his own with a high-resolution e-ink display
. It shows high definition frames from
Alien
(1979) at a rate of about one frame every 200 seconds, but a surprising amount of work went into getting a color film intended to look good on a movie screen
also
look good when displayed on black & white e-ink.
The usual way to display images on a screen that is limited to black or white pixels is
dithering
, or manipulating relative densities of white and black to give the impression of a much richer image than one might otherwise expect. By itself, a dithering algorithm isn’t a cure-all and [mat] does an excellent job of explaining why, complete with loads of visual examples.
One consideration is the e-ink display itself. With these displays, changing the screen contents is where all the work happens, and it can be a visually imperfect process when it does. A very slow movie player aims to present each frame as cleanly as possible in an artful and stylish way, so rewriting the entire screen for every frame would mean uglier transitions, and that just wouldn’t do.
Delivering good dithering results despite sudden contrast shifts, and with fewest changed pixels.
So the overall challenge [mat] faced was twofold: how to dither a frame in a way that looked great, but
also
tried to minimize the number of pixels changed from the previous frame? All of a sudden, he had an interesting problem to solve and chose to solve it in an interesting way: training a
GAN
to generate the dithers, aiming to balance best image quality with minimal pixel change from the previous frame. The results do a great job of delivering quality visuals even when there are sharp changes in scene contrast to deal with. Curious about the code? Here’s the
GitHub repository
.
Here’s
the original Very Slow Movie Player
that so inspired [mat], and
here’s a color version
that helps make every frame a work of art. And as for dithering? It’s been around for ages, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t new problems to solve in that space. For example, making dithering look good in the game
Return of the Obra Dinn
required a custom algorithm
. | 2 | 2 | [
{
"comment_id": "6635775",
"author": "Ostracus",
"timestamp": "2023-04-25T20:11:34",
"content": "I suspect paint drying: the movie would have been a better candidate.https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1559353/",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "6680018",... | 1,760,372,320.39337 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2023/04/25/op-amp-contest-a-slice-of-the-70s/ | Op Amp Contest: A Slice Of The ’70s | Jenny List | [
"classic hacks",
"contests"
] | [
"Op Amp Challenge",
"op-amp",
"phase shift oscillator",
"timer"
] | The 1970s was a great time to be an electronics hobbyist, as a whole new world of analogue integrated circuits was coming down in price while new devices would appear to tempt the would-be constructor. Magazines and project books were full of simple circuits to do all manner of fun things, including many synthesizers and sound generators.
We’re reminded of those days by [Burkhard Kainka]’s
triggered sound generator
, which couples an op-amp timer to another op-amp phase shift oscillator to produce a sound described as “
the unwilling meowing of a cat, which does not want to be disturbed
“. Yes, we did make things like this back in the day.
The timer is triggered by a few millivolts on its input, which can come from a bit of mains hum or a flash of light to an LED operating as a photodiode. This provides enough DC voltage to the input of the phase shift oscillator to start oscillation, and in turn the oscillator drives a piezo speaker. It’s a fun little project, it shows that a microcontroller isn’t always needed to make something work, and maybe those of you without the experience of a 1970s childhood can learn a little bit of analogue magic from it. Need to know op-amps better?
Read our primer
! | 7 | 5 | [
{
"comment_id": "6635827",
"author": "william payne (@william45994166)",
"timestamp": "2023-04-25T23:53:43",
"content": "Ramzi Yousef Casio watch op amp implementation eclipses all other op amp projects?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "6635832",... | 1,760,372,320.348124 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2023/04/25/retrotechtacular-putting-pictures-on-the-wire-in-the-1930s/ | Retrotechtacular: Putting Pictures On The Wire In The 1930s | Dan Maloney | [
"Hackaday Columns",
"Retrotechtacular",
"Slider"
] | [
"facsimile",
"fax",
"neon",
"news",
"photocell",
"retrotechtacular",
"telephone"
] | Remember fax machines? They used to be all the rage, and to be honest it was pretty cool to be able to send images back and forth over telephone lines. By the early 2000s, pretty much everyone had some kind of fax capability, whether thanks to a dedicated fax machine, a fax modem, or an all-in-one printer. But then along came the smartphone that allowed you to snap a picture of a document and send it by email or text, and along with the decrease in landline subscriptions, facsimile has pretty much become a technological dead end.
But long before fax machines became commonplace, there was a period during which sending images by wire was a very big deal indeed. So much so that General Motors produced
“Spot News,”
a short film to demonstrate how newspapers leveraged telephone technology to send photographs from the field. The film is very much of the “March of Progress” genre, and seems to be something that would have been included along with the newsreels and Looney Tunes between the double feature films. It shows a fictional newsroom in The Big City, where a cub reporter gets a hot tip about an airplane stunt about to be attempted out in the sticks. The editor doesn’t want to miss out on a scoop, so he sends a photographer and a reporter to the remote location to cover the stunt, along with a technology-packed photographic field car.
After the “snapper” gets some shots of the stunt by hanging onto the roof of the van, which honestly seems more dangerous than what the pilot is attempting, the real fun begins. He passes the exposed film into the photo lab section of the van, where a darkroom tech processes the film using what appears to be the standard wet process. How exactly this is accomplished while the van is speeding toward the nearest telephone pole isn’t detailed; some things you just have to take on faith.
Once the van reaches a telephone pole, they need to connect the van to the telephone network. After donning pole-climbing gaffs and period-correct PPE — a fedora — the reporter climbs the pole to make the connection. The old “press card in the hat band” trick used to buy you a lot of leeway, we suppose. Inside the van, the now-developed photograph is wrapped around the drum of a scanning machine, which aims a narrow beam of light onto the black-and-white image. Reflected light is picked up by a phototube, which translates it into an audio tone that goes straight into the earpiece of a wonderfully retro candlestick phone. Back at the newspaper, a receiver translates the audio tones into varying brightness on a neon bulb, which exposes a sheet of photographic film wrapped around an identical drum to reproduce the image in minutes.
The genius bit about this setup is its completely analog nature. As long as the sending and receiving drums are the same size and rotating at the same speed, there’s no need for any kind of synchronization signals or handshaking. And the fact that the output of the receiver was ready to rush down to the press room in time for the evening edition must have been a boon to the editors.
But really, the gem of this piece was the visualization of the facsimile process using two rolls of string, and how an image could be serialized and deserialized. Encoding a message on a string wrapped around a drum and then randomizing the string by balling it up seems like a low-tech way to exfiltrate information under hostile conditions, as long as your recipient knows what size drum to use for decoding. There’s your Hackaday fieldcraft lesson for the day.
Thanks to [Mike Bradley] and [Keith Olson] for the tip. | 52 | 15 | [
{
"comment_id": "6635731",
"author": "alialiali",
"timestamp": "2023-04-25T17:37:47",
"content": "> Encoding a message on a string wrapped around a drum and then randomizing the string by balling it up seems like a low-tech way to exfiltrate information under hostile conditions, as long as your reci... | 1,760,372,320.651224 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2023/04/25/low-cost-rf-power-sensor-gets-all-the-details-right/ | Low-Cost RF Power Sensor Gets All The Details Right | Dan Maloney | [
"Radio Hacks"
] | [
"amateur radio",
"ham",
"homebrew",
"power sensor",
"QO-100",
"RF",
"schottky",
"wattmeter"
] | Dirty little secret time: although amateur radio operators talk a good game about relishing the technical challenge of building their own radio equipment, what’s really behind all the DIY gear is the fact that the really good stuff is just too expensive to buy.
A case in point is
this super-low-cost RF power sensor
that [Tech Minds (M0DQW)] recently built. It’s based on
a design by [DL5NEG]
that uses a single Schottky diode and a handful of passive components. The design is simple, but as with all things RF, details count. Chief among these details is the physical layout of the PCB, which features a stripline of precise dimensions to keep the input impedance at the expected 50 ohms. Also important are the number and locations of the vias that stitch the ground planes together on the double-sided PCB.
While [Tech Minds]’ first pass at the sensor hewed closely to the original design and used a homebrew PCB, the sensor seemed like a great candidate for translating to a commercial PCB. This version proved to be just as effective as the original, with the voltage output lining up nicely with the original calibration curves generated by [DL5NEG]. The addition of a nice extruded aluminum case and an N-type RF input made for a very professional-looking tool, not to mention a useful one.
[Tech Minds] is lucky enough to live within view of
QO-100, ham radio’s first geosynchronous satellite
, so this sensor will be teamed up with an ADC and a Raspberry Pi to create a wattmeter with a graphical display for his 2.4-GHz satellite operations. | 25 | 11 | [
{
"comment_id": "6635714",
"author": "Tito Figueiredo",
"timestamp": "2023-04-25T16:17:49",
"content": "Scottish Diode :) at 6:33m",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "6635718",
"author": "MAC",
"timestamp": "2023-04-25T16:32:23",
"conten... | 1,760,372,320.457377 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2023/04/25/fet-the-friendly-efficient-transistor/ | FET: The Friendly Efficient Transistor | Arya Voronova | [
"Featured",
"how-to",
"Interest",
"Parts",
"Slider"
] | [
"fet",
"field effect transistor",
"mosfet",
"transistor"
] | If you ever work with a circuit that controls a decent amount of current, you will often encounter a FET – a Field-Effect Transistor. Whether you want to control a couple of powerful LEDs, switch a USB device on and off, or drive a motor, somewhere in the picture, there’s usually a FET doing the heavy lifting. You might not be familiar with how a FET works, how to use one and what are the caveats – let’s go through the basics.
Here’s a simple FET circuit that lets you switch power to, say, a USB port, kind of like a valve that interrupts the current flow. This circuit uses a P-FET – to turn the power on, open the FET by bringing the GATE signal down to ground level, and to switch it off, close the FET by bringing the GATE back up, where the resistor holds it by default. If you want to control it from a 3.3 V MCU that can’t handle the high-side voltage on its pins, you can add a NPN transistor section as shown – this inverts the logic, making it into a more intuitive “high=on, low=off”, and, you no longer risk a GPIO!
This circuit is called a high-side switch – it enables you to toggle power to a device at will through a FET. It’s the most popular usecase for a FET, and if you’re wondering more about high-side switches, I highly recommend
this brilliant article
by our own [Bil Herd], where he shows you high-side switch basics in a simple and clear way. For this article, you can use this schematic as a reference of how FETs are typically used in a circuit.
Small Talk
There’s different kinds of FETs – MOSFETs, JFETs, and
a few dozen
less popular but still abundant ones. When talking about a FET, people usually mean a MOSFET, and that’s what this article is going to talk about, too – other types aren’t as popular for the usual hacker purposes, and I don’t know much about JFETs to begin with. They’re all field-effect transistors, however, siblings to the other kind of transistor that’s abundant – BJTs (Bipolar Junction Transistor), popular enough that we typically just refer to them as NPN or PNP transistors. These are all under the transistor umbrella, but when people say “transistor”, they usually mean BJT, and when people say “FET”, they usually mean “MOSFET”.
You can imagine a FET as a resistor you can control, and its resistance can go as low as a fraction of an ohm (open), or to an infinitely high resistance for the purpose of your design (closed). You open the FET by charging and discharging its gate – at its simplest, you can imagine the gate as a capacitor. To sum it up, a FET is a transistor that acts as a resistor, with a built-in capacitor for controlling the FET’s resistance.
This makes FETs uniquely wonderful for things like power rail switching! When controlling a device’s power rail with a BJT, a voltage drop of at least 0.3 V is inevitable due to the way BJTs work – wasting power into heat as a result, and a no-go for digital devices where supply voltage matters. A FET in the same application, however, will just be an inline sub-ohm resistance – efficient and friendly. This is the main reason why FETs are used for power switching applications, and you will see FETs in all kinds of places as a result.
Now, a FET doesn’t instantly go from “fully open” to “fully closed” – just like with BJTs we all know and love, there are in-between states too, where resistance is not as low as the FET goes, but also not infinite – the FET is partially open, or, in other words, in its linear region. You can reach the linear region by applying an almost-open-but-not-quite kind of voltage to the gate, and by taking advantage of this, you can build an amplifier, an electronic load, or a constant-current driver for some LEDs. For switching purposes, however, a FET in the linear region is something you want to avoid – high resistance means high losses and the need to dissipate that heat somehow.
Due to the way that FETs are built, each FET has a diode built-in, known as a “body diode”. You can’t avoid this diode – it’s there to stay; you can only account for its existence when wiring things up. If a diode is undesirable, a way to avoid it is by putting two FETs back-to-back. This is how LiIon battery protection circuits work – they need to protect the battery from overdischarge by shutting off the current that flows out, but they also need to protect from overcharge by shutting off the current that flows in, and putting two FETs in series with the diodes facing each other is one way to accomplish that. If you look at a higher-current LiIon battery BMS, you will inevitably find two FETs wired up like that, or even two rows of FETs put in parallel!
How does a FET actually work on a physical level, without the simplifications? Here’s
a video
from [Thomas Schwenke] on FETs specifically, and also
one from [EEVblog]
that talks about both BJTs and FETs. There are also myriad learning material and examples online, like
this beautiful GIF
from Wikipedia. You don’t exactly need to know this, but it might help, and it’s absolutely fascinating, too!
Opening Up
To open a FET, you need to apply a voltage to the gate that exceeds the FET’s
Vgs
threshold and doesn’t exceed the
Vgs
(max) value. Both of these are found in the datasheet, of course. Beware –
Vgs
in the datasheet (and online retailer part pickers!) is often given for some acceptable value of resistance, but not for the lowest resistance that the FET can achieve, so, you’ll want to check the
Vgs
-to-resistance graph in the datasheet. Now, in
Vgs
,
G
stands for gate and
S
stands for source – the third pin is drain; once the FET opens, current flows from source to drain. Of course, the gate control voltage has to be supplied relative to source, too.
Just like with NPN and PNP transistors, there are N-FETs and P-FETs. N-FETs are like NPN transistors – the gate pin needs to have higher voltage than the source pin for the FET to open. P-FETs are like PNP transistors, too – the gate pin of a P-FET needs to have lower voltage than the source pin, of course, exceeding Vgs; in P-FET datasheets,
Vgs
is shown as a negative number, say, “-1.7 V”. As you might have noticed, it’s easiest to use P-FETs for high-side switching and N-FETs for low-side switching – as long as your
Vgs
is smaller than your power rail voltage, you don’t have to go outside of the range of voltages available within your circuit.
Now, when wiring a FET up, remember about the body diode – if you use a FET for load switching and wire it up the wrong way by mixing up source and drain, your device will always be powered through the body diode, no matter if the FET is open or not. On the other hand, checking with the datasheet for the pinout will eliminate this problem, and when drawing the schematic, the FET symbol will often have the diode drawn inside – or, at least, an arrow going from the same pin.
As for the naming, it’s easy to remember – when doing high-side switching with P-FETs or low-side switching with N-FETs, you connect your power source to the
source
pin, positive rail in case of a P-FET or the negative rail in case of an N-FET. Even if you need a FET for a different purpose, this particular mnemonic can remind you from which to which pin the body diode goes! P-FET, positive source. N-FET, negative source.
Once you got a FET, there’s a few ways to put it into a circuit. If you’re switching a 3.3 V power rail and your microcontroller is 3.3 V, you might as well drive the FET directly with a GPIO – while charging a FET’s gate isn’t always GPIO-friendly, gate capacitance won’t be much of a load on your GPIO at a small scale, so it’s a good shortcut in hacker projects; if concerned, you can add a series resistor between the gate and GPIO, say, 100 Ω. It’s also quite popular to drive low-side switching N-FETs with a GPIO, just like we do with NPN transistors!
Calculating the voltage divider to keep Vgs lower than the source voltage
However, if your voltages don’t match, say, you’re controlling a 12 V load with a P-FET and a 3.3 V GPIO, there is another, way more popular way, that you’ve seen in our first example schematic – use another FET or BJT to pull the gate into one direction, and a resistor to pull it into another; if you need to keep your
Vgs
within a certain range, just add an extra resistor between the gate and the control transistor to form a voltage divider!
This is super useful, but not flawless. The gate is a capacitor, so charging or discharging it through a resistor will take more time than doing the opposite with a transistor, so the resistor-driven direction will spend more time in the linear region. This isn’t much of a problem for switching loads on and off occasionally, but it will bite you if you decide to do higher-frequency PWM – say, you’re driving LEDs or controlling speed of a motor, with the motor’s inductance messing things up even further. That’s where FET drivers come in – it’s a small chip that has a push-pull stage inside of it that helps you drive the gate strongly despite the capacitance, and keep
Vgs
within an acceptable range, too. More or less, connect your control GPIO to one side of the chip, your FET’s gate to another, follow the gate driver’s datasheet, and you’re golden.
Setting Boundaries
Of course, FETs have their limitations and nuances – there are myriad FETs in SOT23 packages that all look the same, but only some of them will keep up when you need to drive a few meters of an LED strip. The most important parameters are drain-source maximum current and voltage – these define the kind of load you can drive with a FET. If you want to drive a 12 V / 3 A load, it would be wise to pick a 20 V / 4 A Vds/Ids FETs, and if it’s a 3.3 V / 1 A, a 12 V / 3 A FET is the usual choice. Oh, and, the body diode might look extremely convenient, say, if you’re switching inductive loads, as it would dissipate some of the backwards EMF that the FET might get – don’t rely on it too much though, if you need a diode, adding an extra diode in parallel is a better way.
Extra ESD protection on the gate
Have you found some nice and cheap FETs, or maybe you got some good ones in your stash, but they’re a bit short on the maximum current they can handle? Good news – you can often put similar FETs in parallel to increase the maximum current capacity! Unlike diodes, most FETs have a positive thermal coefficient – as more current flows through a FET and its temperature increases, its resistance increases too, which results in paralleled FETs balancing each other out – even if their parameters aren’t perfectly equal. You don’t even need to have separate driving circuits – just parallel FETs together, all three pins ganged, and it will work.
The gate pin is more touchy than the drain and source – for instance, it’s quite ESD-sensitive, and some FETs even have ESD protection diodes built in, wired between gate and source. Unlike with BJT transistors that need a constant current flow, you only need to charge a gate once for the FET to remain open for a fair bit – and it’s such a small amount of charge that you can often literally charge a FET’s gate by merely touching it with your finger, if the gate isn’t being actively pulled into any direction. See the R1 resistor in the intro circuit? It keeps the gate discharged and the FET closed unless it’s not actively being opened – without this resistor, the FET would not close on its own, and it would be susceptible to all sorts of noise. Unless you’re using a gate driver, you’ll absolutely want a gate-source resistor.
Also, generally, maximum
Vgs
threshold is way lower than
Vds
threshold – for instance, for a 30 V Vds FET, it’s not uncommon to see the maximum
Vgs
be 12 V or so; exceed it and the FET is quite likely to fail. Let’s say, you’re switching 20 V with such a P-FET, in the usual high-side switching configuration, and you get good
Rds
(drain-source resistance) at -6 V – you’ll want to keep the gate at about 12 V. Again, the easiest way to do that is a voltage divider, and the gate pull resistor will fit nicely into the picture!
When a FET fails, it usually fails short-circuit – this is quite bad if you’re relying on the FET for anything critical, but if there is one upside, it’s that it is quite easy to debug when your FET has failed. Some products, like the Pinecil, use two FETs in series to further safeguard from such issues – indeed, having a soldering iron’s tip heat up uncontrollably is bad for your customers. Other products just use a single FET and don’t bother – failures are overall rare.
Speaking of the Pinecil, it uses an unorthodox driving circuit – it has an NPN transistor, but its base driven through a capacitor, so that only the AC component of the driving signal gets through. As a result, if the main MCU hangs and the control GPIO is stuck high, the FET won’t stay enabled!
Until Next Time
Would you like to learn more in-depth about FETs? There’s plenty of information online. For instance,
this TI app note
about driving FETs is wonderful. Over here at Hackaday, we’ve also taken a look at FETs in a few different contexts –
CMOS logic
,
high voltage switching
,
part sourcing
and general
transistor wrangling
, as well as covered a few
introductory guides.
Of course, there’s way more fun things to learn about FETs! Next time, let’s move from schematic snippets to real-world uses – I want to show you a bunch of cool circuits that use FETs in perhaps less conventional ways; from reverse polarity protection to soft-start circuits and level-shifting, there’s a number of purposes that a FET could have on your board. Oh, and there will be part number recommendations, part picker tips, and some FET trivia that you might find useful for your hacking journeys and completing your FET mental map! | 57 | 17 | [
{
"comment_id": "6635690",
"author": "Andrew Wilson",
"timestamp": "2023-04-25T14:59:57",
"content": "I initially struggled with the concepts of open and closed. In the end I thought of it as a tap rather than a switch",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"commen... | 1,760,372,320.886581 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2023/04/25/3d-print-for-extreme-temperatures-but-only-if-youre-nasa/ | 3D Print For Extreme Temperatures (But Only If You’re NASA) | Jenny List | [
"3d Printer hacks",
"Science"
] | [
"3d printing",
"alloy",
"laser sintering",
"nasa"
] | At the level pursued by many Hackaday readers, the advent of affordable 3D printing has revolutionised prototyping, as long as the resolution of a desktop printer is adequate and the part can be made in a thermoplastic or resin, it can be in your hands without too long a wait. The same has happened at a much higher level, but for those with extremely deep pockets it extends into exotic high-performance materials which owners of a desktop FDM machine can only dream of.
NASA for example are reporting their new 3D printable nickel-cobalt-chromium alloy
that can produce extra-durable laser-sintered metal parts that van withstand up to 2000 Fahrenheit, or 1033 Celcius for non-Americans. This has obvious applications for an organisation producing spacecraft, so
naturally they are excited about it
.
The alloy receives some of its properties because of its
oxide-dispersion-strengthened
composition, in which grains of metal oxide are dispersed among its structure. We’re not metallurgists here at Hackaday, but we understand that the inconsistencies in the layers of metal atoms caused by the oxides in the crystal structure of the alloy leads to a higher energy required for the structure to shear.
While these particular materials might never be affordable for us mere mortals to play with, NASA’s did previously look into how it could
greatly reduce the cost of high-temperature 3D printing
by modifying an existing open source machine. | 23 | 7 | [
{
"comment_id": "6635656",
"author": "CRJEEA",
"timestamp": "2023-04-25T11:31:34",
"content": "van -> can",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "6635674",
"author": "Prowler50mil",
"timestamp": "2023-04-25T13:46:51",
"content"... | 1,760,372,320.783927 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2023/04/25/make-your-esp32-talk-like-its-the-80s-again/ | Make Your ESP32 Talk Like It’s The 80s Again | Donald Papp | [
"how-to",
"Microcontrollers"
] | [
"80's",
"phonemes",
"speech synthesis",
"talkie"
] | 80s-era electronic speech certainly has a certain retro appeal to it, but it can sometimes be a useful data output method since it can be implemented on very little hardware. [luc] demonstrates this with a
talking thermometer project
that requires no display and no special hardware to communicate temperatures to a user.
Back in the day, there were chips like the
Votrax SC-01A
that could play phonemes (distinct sounds that make up a language) on demand. These would be mixed and matched to create identifiable words, in that
distinctly synthesized Speak & Spell manner
that is so charming-slash-uncanny.
Software-only speech synthesis isn’t new, but it’s better now than it was
in Atari’s day
.
Nowadays, even hobbyist microcontrollers have more than enough processing power and memory to do a similar job entirely in software, which is exactly what [luc]’s talking thermometer project does. All this is done with the
Talkie library
, originally written for the Arduino and updated for the ESP32 and other microcontrollers. With it, one only needs headphones or a simple audio amplifier and speaker to output canned voice data from a project.
[luc] uses it to demonstrate how to communicate to a user in a hands-free manner without needing a display, and we also saw this output method in
an electric unicycle
which had a talking speedometer (judged to better allow the user to keep their eyes on the road, as well as minimizing the parts count.)
Would you like to listen to an authentic, somewhat-understandable 80s-era text-to-speech synthesizer? You’re in luck, because we can show you an
authentic vintage MicroVox unit in action
. Give it a listen, and compare it to a demo of the Talkie library in the video below. | 21 | 11 | [
{
"comment_id": "6635633",
"author": "dendad",
"timestamp": "2023-04-25T08:05:54",
"content": "I like it :)Years ago I played with one of those phoneme chips driven by a 6511AQ running FORTH.This looks like a good thing as I have a friend with low sight.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
... | 1,760,372,320.722897 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2023/04/24/half-crystal-radio-half-regenerative-radio/ | Half Crystal Radio, Half Regenerative Radio | Jenny List | [
"classic hacks",
"Radio Hacks"
] | [
"crystal radio",
"radio",
"Regeneration"
] | A rite of passage in decades past for the electronics experimenter was the crystal radio. Using very few components and a long wire antenna, such a radio could pick up AM stations with no batteries needed, something important in the days when a zinc-carbon cell cost a lot of pocket money. The days of AM broadcasting may be on the wane, but it’s still possible to make a crystal set that will resolve stations on the FM band. [Andrea Console] has done just that, with
a VHF crystal set that whose circuit also doubles as a regenerative receiver when power is applied
.
The key to a VHF crystal set lies in the highest quality tuned circuit components to achieve that elusive “Q” factor. In this radio that is coupled to a small-signal zero voltage threshold FET that acts as a detector when no power is applied, and the active component in a regenerative radio when it has power. The regenerative radio increases sensitivity and selectivity by operating at almost the point of oscillation, resulting in a surprisingly good receiver for so few parts.
Everyone should make a regenerative radio receiver once in their life
! | 11 | 6 | [
{
"comment_id": "6635645",
"author": "daveboltman",
"timestamp": "2023-04-25T09:55:58",
"content": "Interesting! Made lots of crystal radios as a youngun. Always thought VHF was not an option, although I imagined an FM detector was possible, just that there weren’t any FM stations at low enough freq... | 1,760,372,320.936814 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2023/04/24/testing-part-stiffness-no-need-to-re-invent-the-bending-rig/ | Testing Part Stiffness? No Need To Re-invent The Bending Rig | Donald Papp | [
"3d Printer hacks",
"Science"
] | [
"3d printed",
"measurement",
"stiffness",
"Young's modulus"
] | If one is serious about testing the stiffness of materials or parts, there’s nothing quite like doing your own tests. And thanks to [JanTec]’s
3-Point Bending Test rig
, there’s no need to reinvent the wheel should one wish to do so.
The dial caliper can be mounted to a fixed height, thanks to a section of 3030 T-slot extrusion.
Some simple hardware, a couple spare pieces of 3030 T-slot extrusion, a few 3D-printed parts, and a dial indicator all come together to create a handy rig that will let one get straight to measuring.
Here is how it works: stiffness of a material is measured by placing a sample between two points and applying a known force to the middle of the sample. This will cause the material to bend, and measuring how far a standardized sample deforms under a known amount of force (normally accomplished by a dial indicator) is how one can quantify a material’s stiffness.
When a material talks about its
Young’s modulus
(E) value, it’s talking about stiffness. A low Young’s modulus means a material is more elastic, a high value means the material is more stiff. (This shouldn’t be confused with strength or toughness, which are more about resistance to non-recoverable deformation, and resistance to fracture, respectively.)
Interested in results, but don’t want to get busy doing your own testing? Someone’s already been there and done that: here’s a great roundup of
measurements of 3D-printed parts, using different filaments
. | 3 | 2 | [
{
"comment_id": "6635600",
"author": "J",
"timestamp": "2023-04-25T02:21:15",
"content": "I’m reminded of the words my materials teacher drilled into us…‘harder, stronger, more brittle, less ductile less tough’",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "6... | 1,760,372,320.980183 |
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