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https://hackaday.com/2022/12/18/hackaday-links-december-18-2022/ | Hackaday Links: December 18, 2022 | Dan Maloney | [
"Hackaday Columns",
"Hackaday links",
"Slider"
] | [
"abandonware",
"aquarium",
"berlin",
"biology",
"bricking",
"drm",
"electronics course",
"hackaday links",
"immune system",
"Manhattan Style",
"neets",
"neuralink",
"neutrophil",
"structural collapse",
"ugly",
"US Navy"
] | By now everyone has probably seen the devastation wrought by
the structural failure of what was once the world’s largest free-standing cylindrical aquarium
. The scale of the tank, which until about 5:50 AM Berlin time on Friday graced the lobby of the Raddison Blu hotel, was amazing — 16 meters tall, 12 meters in diameter, holding a million liters of saltwater and some 1,500 tropical fish. The tank sat atop a bar in the hotel lobby and was so big that it even had an elevator passing up through the middle of it.
But for some reason, the tank failed catastrophically, emptying its contents into the hotel lobby and spilling the hapless fish out into the freezing streets of Berlin. No humans were killed by the flood, which is miraculous when you consider the forces that were unleashed here. Given the level of destruction, the displaced hotel guests, and the fact that a €13 million structure just up and failed, we’re pretty sure there will be a thorough analysis of the incident. We’re pretty interested in
why structures fail
, so we’ll be looking forward to finding out the story here.
We’ve spent a lot of virtual ink here decrying the increase in “abandonware” products, where startups with a seemingly killer idea suddenly go belly-up and end up bricking their fancy connected devices. Users who bought into the ecosystem inevitably are the losers in these situations, having invested often considerable time and effort into the product or service, perhaps integrating it into their daily life and building a workflow around the offering, only to have the rug pulled out from them.
We’ve seen this a ton of times over the years — looking at you, Google — but we tend to see it as just an inconvenience for the abandoned users, and little more. But in
a longish article
, Cory Doctorow argues that it’s often more than an inconvenience, especially when you start talking about orphaned medical devices. The article cites several real-world examples, like implantable retinal implants that got bricked when the manufacturer went bust, but it clearly has eyes on as-yet experimental neurological implants like Neuralink. There’s also a lot of discussion on the failure modes of startups in general, and what it means for users when the most valuable asset of a defunct operation, which is usually the data it collected, hits the secondary market. It’s thought-provoking stuff, and honestly a little terrifying.
Say what you will about the US military — or pretty much any military in the world, for that matter — but they’re really good at teaching complex subjects to complete newbies as quickly and efficiently as possible. Boot camp transforms a civilian into a soldier in six to eight weeks, for example, and that’s no mean feat. But the military is also good at teaching more than marching around, including electronics, a fact that
someone on r/amateurradio
noticed and helpfully posted a link to
the US Navy Electricity and Electronics Trains Series
. NEETS trained a lot of utterly clueless young sailors to be electronics technicians who could support some of the world’s most advanced weapons systems. We’re not sure we fully agree with the OP’s out-of-hand dismissal of the quality of education received by EE students, but we do think that a self-paced NEETS run-through probably has a lot of value to anyone looking to level up their skills.
We got a great tip this week about
Manhattan-style SMD breakout adapters
. We love
“Ugly” prototyping
, but the methods generally favor through-hole components and DIP ICs. The adapters in this project turn that around, allowing SOIC and MSOP packages to be quickly added to projects and connected with a few flying leads. It’s a great way to avoid the parasitic capacitance of solderless breadboards while putting all those SMD components to work.
And finally, Editor-in-Chief Elliot Williams sent along
a fascinating visualization of the human immune system in action
. The short clip shows a neutrophil, one of the white blood cells which make up the bulk of the innate immune system, chasing down and gobbling up a hapless
Staphylococcus aureus
bacterium. This is a great example of chemotaxis, the process by which cells follow a chemical gradient; you can practically see the trail left by the tiny bacterium as the neutrophil surges along. Watching the hunter ignore the red blood cells and seek out the invader is like watching a nature film with a lion and a gazelle; you kind of root for the gazelle, but you pretty much know how it’s going to turn out in the end. The amazing thing here is that this isn’t an animation, but a real 16-mm film made through a microscope back in the 1950s — hats off to the late Dr. David Rogers for the effort on this one.
https://hackaday.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Neutrophil_chasing_bacteria_movie.mp4 | 27 | 12 | [
{
"comment_id": "6552805",
"author": "Ren",
"timestamp": "2022-12-19T00:37:22",
"content": "Did the aquarium hold back the water with polymers? If so they should’ve used transparent alumin[i]um.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "6552809",
... | 1,760,372,460.705908 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2022/12/18/medical-ultrasound-scanner-gives-up-its-secrets-runs-doom/ | Medical Ultrasound Scanner Gives Up Its Secrets, RunsDOOM | Robin Kearey | [
"Medical Hacks"
] | [
"hidden features",
"medical ultrasound",
"ultrasound scanner"
] | Medical equipment often makes for interesting teardown videos: the strict requirements imposed by certification bodies mean you’ll find good quality components and a high standard of design and manufacturing. But when [Buy It Fix It] bought an ultrasound scanner on eBay, he wasn’t interested in tearing it down: his plan was to use it to find out if his sheep are in lamb, so he went on
to repair it and modify it for its new purpose
.
The device in question is a Mediwatch Bardscan II, which is meant to be used for scanning people’s bladders. The mainboard has a completely different model number however, which suggests that the basic design is used for several types of ultrasound scanners. The system is powered by an AMD Geode processor that runs Windows XP Embedded stored on a CompactFlash card, so examining the internal software is easy: the scanner interface even runs on a regular Windows PC.
Several files on the internal drive point at hidden features, with filenames like
kidney.dib
and
liver.dib
indicating that the instrument can scan more than just bladders. The drive also holds several versions of the scanning app, as well as a
.ini
file in which lots of features can be enabled or disabled. By running the executable through x32dbg, [Buy It Fix It] was even able to recover the password to enable the “Advanced Settings” menu — it’s “u10” in case you were wondering.
With a bit of file editing, [Buy It Fix It] managed to turn the rather basic system into a way more flexible ultrasound scanner. For example, he can now adjust the scan depth, replay previous scans and make notes on top of any captured images. It can even run
DOOM
, as he demonstrates at the end of the video — though we can imagine his sheep might not enjoy the sight of their owner approaching them with a box full of flame-throwing demons.
Medical ultrasound scanners,
which have been around for quite a while
, may appear to be complex machines, but it is possible to make
a simple version with easily available components
. | 4 | 1 | [
{
"comment_id": "6552767",
"author": "alialiali",
"timestamp": "2022-12-18T22:33:25",
"content": "Seeing it opened like that just makes you realise how important it is these items do get a chance to be reused/repurposed.Way too good to rot in a landfill!",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
... | 1,760,372,460.796244 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2022/12/18/antweight-combat-robot-tips-shared-from-experience/ | Antweight Combat Robot Tips, Shared From Experience | Donald Papp | [
"Robots Hacks"
] | [
"antweight",
"combat robot",
"learning experience"
] | [Harry]’s newest robot, the
MotherLoader V2
, looks fantastic but was ultimately more of a learning experience and test bed for some experimental features. Luckily for us, [Harry] created
a lengthy write-up
detailing everything that he tried and revised.
3D printing and aluminum both feature heavily in antweight robots, in part because when contestants are limited to 150 grams it’s safe to say that every bit counts. We recommend reading [Harry]’s entire article to get all the details, but here are some of the bigger takeaways.
Treads provide a lot of contact surface, but there are a lot of ways they can go wrong. Pliability and grip have to be good matches for the robot’s design, otherwise the tread might bunch up or otherwise perform poorly when trying to maneuver. [Harry] had several dud efforts, but ended up with a great result by borrowing an idea from another competitor:
composite tracks
.
These have an inner track printed from flexible TPU filament, and an outer layer formed by casting silicone directly onto the 3D printed core. It’s a somewhat involved process, but the result is a durable and custom-fitted inner track on the inside, and a softer grip outside. Best of both worlds, and easily tailored to match requirements.
Speaking of TPU, [Harry] discovered that it can be worth printing structural parts with TPU. While ABS is usually the material of choice for durable components, printing solid parts in TPU has a lot to recommend it when it comes to 150 gram robots. Not only can TPU parts be stiff enough to hold up structurally, but they can
really
take a beating and happily spring back into shape afterwards.
We’ve seen [Harry]’s work before
on antweight combat robots, and it’s always nice to peek behind the scenes and gaze into the details. Especially for processes like this, where failures are far more educational than successes. | 1 | 1 | [
{
"comment_id": "6552999",
"author": "Strang__",
"timestamp": "2022-12-19T12:35:08",
"content": "Just a heads-up for any readers, Motherloader and Motherloader V2 are both Beetleweight combat robots, so in the UK they’re at 1500g rather than 150g. You can find a bunch of guides if you look for Brist... | 1,760,372,460.599618 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2022/12/18/a-transistor-memory-wait-its-both/ | A Transistor? Memory? Wait, It’s Both! | Al Williams | [
"Science"
] | [
"fet",
"graphene",
"transistor"
] | What do you get if you cross graphene, hexagonal boron nitride, and tungsten diselenide? Well, according to researchers at Hunan University, you get a field effect transistor that can act as both a switching element or a memory cell. The partial floating-gate field-effect transistor or PFGFET uses 2D van der Waals heterostructures to deal with isolated atomic layers. The paper in Nature is unfortunately behind a pay wall, but you can
read a summary
over on [TechExplore].
The graphene acts as the gate, and the transistor can be switched between n-type behavior and p-type behavior. It can also be configured as a switching element or as a memory element similar to an EEPROM cell.
One advantage of having configurable transistor types is that a single transistor structure can produce CMOS or complementary circuits. Traditionally, a CMOS IC has two different transistor structures and often producing one of them requires extra effort.
The configuration takes place by applying a control voltage pulse. A negative control voltage produces a p-type FET and a positive voltage configures the same transistor as an n-type. If you don’t have access to the paper, the figures
available online
offer a good bit of insight into the device’s design.
If you want to learn more about ordinary
MOSFETs
, we talk about them often. You can also get the
skinny on CMOS
from [Bil Herd]. | 13 | 4 | [
{
"comment_id": "6552627",
"author": "Hitomi",
"timestamp": "2022-12-18T15:09:34",
"content": "Typo, must be “Van der Waals” instead, not walls.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "6552648",
"author": "Ren",
"timestamp": "2022-12-1... | 1,760,372,460.84781 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2022/12/19/io-connected-radio-alarm-clock/ | IO Connected Radio Alarm Clock | Abe Connelly | [
"clock hacks"
] | [
"alarm clock",
"AM/FM",
"atmega328",
"atmega328p",
"DS1307 RTC",
"i2c",
"TEA5767"
] | [CoreWeaver] creates an
alarm clock
that includes features one might expect in such a project, including an FM radio, snooze button inputs and a display, but goes beyond the basic functionality to include temperature sensing and a PC connection, opening the way for customizable functionality.
An Atmega328 is used for the main microcontroller which communicates via I2C both to a DS1307 real time clock (RTC) and a TEA5767 FM module. The main power comes from a 9V power source with an LM317 and LM7805 linear regulators providing a 3.3V and 5V power rail, respectively. Most of the electronics are powered using 5V except for the TEA5767, which is powered from the 3.3V rail and has its I2C communication levels shifted from 5V to 3.3V. The audio output of the TEA5767 feeds directly into the TDA7052 audio amplifier to drive the speakers. Since the RTC has an auxiliary coin cell battery for power, the alarm clock can keep accurate time even when not plugged in.
A piezo buzzer is used for a more jarring alarm and a 20×4 LCD matrix is used, with [coreWeaver] creating a custom numerical font to create large format numbers for the display. Two DS18B20 digital thermometers are used for temperature sensing, one placed outdoors and one placed indoors, with the microcontroller using a 1-wire protocol for communication. A custom 3D printed enclosure is made, complete with snooze button and knob, to provide a compact housing for the project.
The USB to serial UART communication opens the way for fully customizable alarm schedules, radio tuning or other actions based on time, temperature or whatever else. [CoreWeaver] has all design files and source code available on
GitHub
, including a full bill of materials (BOM) and schematics, allowing for ample opportunity for any hacker wanting to extend or customize the project further.
Alarm clocks are a mainstay here at Hack-a-Day and we’ve featured projects
ranging from
nixie tube alarm clocks
to
light alarm clocks
. [CoreWeaver] has started a video series describing the build, so be sure to check out the video after the break! | 3 | 1 | [
{
"comment_id": "6554728",
"author": "Foley Matthews",
"timestamp": "2022-12-21T00:06:46",
"content": "seriously, 2 days old and no comments at all, not even the derisive ones like “not another clock” “fm radio is dead”. however, i for one think its a neat project, interesting implementation of larg... | 1,760,372,460.751435 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2022/12/19/photography-the-stereo-way/ | Photography, The Stereo Way | Bryan Cockfield | [
"digital cameras hacks"
] | [
"3d",
"camera",
"image",
"photo",
"photography",
"stereo",
"stereoscopic"
] | Most consumer-grade audio equipment has been in stereo since at least the 1960s, allowing the listener to experience sounds with a three-dimensional perspective as if they were present when the sound was originally made. Stereo photography has lagged a little behind the stereo audio trend, though, with most of the technology existing as passing fads or requiring clumsy hardware to experience fully. Not so with the
DIY stereoscopic cameras like this one
produced by this
group of 3D photography enthusiasts
, who have also some methods to view the photos in 3D without any extra hardware.
The camera uses two imaging sensors to produce a stereo image. One sensor is fixed, and the other is on a slider which allows the user to adjust the “amount” of 3D effect needed for any particular photo. [Jim] is using this camera mostly for macro photography, which means that he only needs a few millimeters of separation between the two sensors to achieve the desired effect, but for more distant objects more separation can be used. The camera uses dual Raspberry Pi processors, a lithium battery, and a touch screen interface. It includes a ton of features as well including things like focus stacking, but to get a more full experience of this build we’d highly recommend checking out the video after the break.
As for viewing the photographs, these stereoscopic 3D images require nothing more than a little practice to view them.
This guide
is available with some simple examples to get started, and while it does at first feel like a Magic Eye puzzle from the late 90s, it quickly becomes intuitive.
Another guide
has some more intricate 3D maps at the end to practice on as well. This is quite the step up from needing to use special glasses or a wearable 3D viewer of some sort.
There are also some methods available
to create 3D images from those taken with a regular 2D camera as well.
Thanks to [Bill] for the tip and the additional links to the guides for viewing these images! | 19 | 8 | [
{
"comment_id": "6553242",
"author": "L",
"timestamp": "2022-12-19T21:19:03",
"content": "Overthinking. Take an old photo cam with a slide film. Take shot. Move small distance to the left or right. Take shot again. View the slides with two of these little boxes that you could a slide into and put it... | 1,760,372,461.110385 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2022/12/19/its-ethernet-from-an-spi-interface/ | It’s Ethernet, From An SPI Interface | Jenny List | [
"Microcontrollers",
"Network Hacks"
] | [
"ethernet",
"ethernet transceiver",
"spi"
] | Over the years as microcontrollers have become fast enough to do the heavy lifting, we have become used to 10 megabit Ethernet being bit-banged from interfaces it was never meant to emerge from. We think however that we’ve never seen one driven from an SPI interface, so
this one from [Ivan]
may be a first. With a cleverly designed transceiver using logic chips, it even offers a chance to understand something about the timing of an Ethernet interface, too.
The differential logic signals derived from a simple Ethernet transceiver can be read by an SPI bus, but for the lack of a clock line. The challenge was then to construct a circuit the would construct the required clock pulses from the state changes on the data line. This would become a monostable with XOR gate, and a shift register to handle the clock during the preamble phase.
The resulting circuitry fits neatly on a shield for the ST Nucleo 64 board, where while it might not be the obvious choice for an Ethernet shield it certainly does the job.
If unexpected Ethernet is your thing,
how about the i2s peripheral on an ESP8266
? | 37 | 9 | [
{
"comment_id": "6553186",
"author": "Mike",
"timestamp": "2022-12-19T19:44:03",
"content": "Why do people try to reinvent the wheel ? Not to mention in todays world I doubt it handles all protocols that would probably hose something else out on the LAN.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
... | 1,760,372,461.008349 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2022/12/19/laser-fusion-ignition-putting-nuclear-fusion-breakthroughs-into-perspective/ | Laser Fusion Ignition: Putting Nuclear Fusion Breakthroughs Into Perspective | Maya Posch | [
"Hackaday Columns",
"News",
"Science"
] | [
"nuclear fusion"
] | This month the media was abuzz with the
announcement
that the US National Ignition Facility (NIF) had accomplished a significant breakthrough in the quest to achieve commercial nuclear fusion. Specifically, the announcement was that a net fusion energy gain (Q) had been measured of about 1.5: for an input of 2.05 MJ, 3.15 MJ was produced.
What was remarkable about this event compared to
last year’s 1.3 MJ
production is that it demonstrates an optimized firing routine for the NIF’s lasers, and that changes to how the Hohlraum – containing the deuterium-tritium (D-T) fuel – is targeted result in more effective compression. Within this Hohlraum, X-rays are produced that serve to compress the fuel. With enough pressure, the Coulomb barrier that generally keeps nuclei from getting near each other can be overcome, and that’s fusion.
Based on the preliminary results, it would appear that a few percent of the D-T fuel did undergo fusion. So then the next question: does this really mean that we’re any closer to having commercial fusion reactors churning out plentiful of power?
Science Communication
The UK ZETA Z-pinch fusion reactor in 1958.
As the eternal jib goes, nuclear fusion is always a decade away, ever since its discovery a
hundred years ago
. What is sadly missing in a lot of the communication when it comes to fundamental physics research and development is often the deeper understanding of what is happening, and what any reported findings mean. Since we’re dealing with fundamental physics and boldly heading into new areas of plasma physics, high-temperature
superconducting magnets
, as well as exciting new fields in material research, all we can do is provide a solid educated guess.
With the Z-pinch fusion reactors of the 1950s, it seemed that commercial fusion reactors were a even just a few years away. Simply pulse high currents through the plasma to induce fusion, harvest the energy and suddenly the much touted nuclear fission reactors of the time already seemed like relics of yesteryear. With initially high Q numbers reported for Z-pinch fusion reactors, the newspapers ran the headlines in the absolute certainty that the UK would be building the first fusion reactors, with the rest of the world to follow.
Later it was discovered that the measurements had been off, and that neither the assumed fusion gain had been as astounding as reported, nor had anyone been aware of the seriousness of plasma instabilities in this type of reactor that complicated their use. It wasn’t until the Russian tokamak design, which added an electromagnetic field around the plasma, that it seemed that these plasma dynamics could now be dealt with.
Although an alternate solution existed at the time in the form of stellerators, these require a rather complex geometry that follows the plasma field, rather than constricting it. This meant that they didn’t become attractive until the 1990s when computer simulation power was good enough to model the requisite form of such a reactor. Currently, the Wendelstein 7-X (W7-X) stellerator is the largest and most interesting implementation of such a reactor, which has
recently
been fully configured with cooled diverters that should allow it to run continuously.
All of which is to say that since the 1950s a lot has happened, many theories were tried, some things stuck, while others flopped. It’s on this wobbly edge between the fields of practical and theoretical physics, as well as materials sciences and various engineering disciplines that humanity is moving ever closer to making a practical commercial fusion reactor work.
Inertial Confinement Fusion Is A Laggard
The NIF at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratories (LLNL) uses laser-based inertial confinement fusion (ICF) which essentially means that the D-T fuel is held in place while it gets blasted in order to achieve fusion. At its core this isn’t significantly more complicated than other fusion reactor concepts, all of which tend to use D-T fuel in the following reaction:
As part of the fusing of the two hydrogen nuclei, a significant amount of energy is released, which can be captured in order to create steam and drive a generator. Meanwhile the helium waste has to be removed, the high-velocity (fast) neutrons captured, and the D-T fuel replenished. When comparing this to magnetic confinement fusion (MCF) technologies such as tokamaks and stellerators, it becomes clear why ICF isn’t even in the same league.
Both tokamaks and stellerators are essentially designed as continuous use reactors, with a constantly maintained plasma flow in which deuterium and tritium nuclei fuse and contaminants are removed via the cooled divertors. Neutrons are captured by a lithium blanket that lines the inside of the reactor vessel, which causes tritium to be bred, allowing for this short-lived hydrogen isotope to be constantly replenished along with deuterium.
Ultimately, a tokamak or stellerator would be self-heating, in that they have a Q of over 15. This means that the reactor can supply the energy needed to heat its plasma, while still producing enough energy to run the generator, or similar. This would make such a reactor essentially self-sustaining, none of which applies to an ICF system like the NIF. It requires the production of its special D-T fuel pellets, and insertion of each pellet into the ignition chamber. This makes continuous operation rather cumbersome.
In terms of net energy production, the NIF also doesn’t look very good. Whereas for example the UK’s JET tokamak has reached a Q of about 0.65 (below break-even), when the approximately 422 MJ input power for an NIF shot is taken into account, the produced 3.15 MJ is paltry, indeed.
Diagram of NIF laser energy to hohlraum x-ray to target capsule energy coupling efficiency.
Putting A Price Tag On Research
During the Cold War era, the R&D budget for nuclear fusion research was rather significant, at least partially enabled by the lingering fear that possibly the Other Side might manage to tame this incredible new source of power first, also helped by the fascinating insights gained in how thermonuclear weapons might be tweaked and maintained more optimally.
When the Cold War ended and the 1990s rolled around, nuclear fusion research found its R&D budget hollowed out to the point where most of it ground to a screeching halt. These days nuclear fusion research is doing significantly better, with many nations running MCF research programs. The majority of these are tokamaks, followed by stellerators with the Ukrainian
Uragan-2M
and German
Wendelstein 7-X
being prominent examples. The rest are ICF devices, which are notably used for fundamental research on fusion, not energy production.
In this context, if we look at the NIF’s 3.15 MJ, it should be clear that we have not suddenly entered the age of commercial nuclear fusion reactors, nor that we’re on the verge of one. What it does mean, however, is that this particular ICF facility has achieved something of note, namely limited fusion ignition. In how far this will be helpful in getting us closer to commercial fusion reactors should become clear over the coming years.
What is beyond question is that putting a price tag on fundamental research makes little sense. The goal of such research and potential is after all to increase our understanding of the world around us, and to make life easier for everyone based on this improved understanding. Considering the wide range of responses to these recent NIF findings it does raise the question in how far the fundamentals of nuclear fusion research are at all being communicated with the general public. | 45 | 15 | [
{
"comment_id": "6553124",
"author": "TG",
"timestamp": "2022-12-19T18:02:51",
"content": "Only three decades left!",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "6553247",
"author": "Criatura",
"timestamp": "2022-12-19T21:29:50",
"co... | 1,760,372,460.938014 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2022/12/19/35mm-film-restoration-process-explained/ | 35mm Film Restoration Process Explained | Dave Walker | [
"Art",
"Video Hacks"
] | [
"35mm film",
"animation",
"film",
"restoration",
"stop motion"
] | For a large part of the 20th century, motion pictures were distributed on nitrate film. Although cheaper for the studios, this film was highly flammable and prone to decay. On top of that, most film prints were simply discarded once they had been through their run at the cinema, so a lot of film history has been lost.
Sometimes, the rolls of projected film would be kept by the projectionist and eventually found by a collector. If the film was too badly damaged to project again, it might still get tossed. Pushing against this tide of decay and destruction are small groups of experts who
scan and restore
these films for the digital age.
The quality difference between a smaller-format print and the original restored negative can be startling
The process is quite involved – starting with checking every single frame of film by hand and repairing any damaged perforations or splices that could come apart in the scanner. Each frame is then automatically scanned at up to 10K resolution to future-proof the process before being painstakingly digitally cleaned.
The real expertise is in knowing what is damage or dirt, and what is the character of the original film. Especially in stop-motion movies, the subtle changes between frames are really part of the original, so the automatic clean-up tools need to be selectively reined in so as not to lose the charm and art of the film-makers.
The results are quite astonishing and we all have teams like this to thank for protecting our cultural heritage.
If you’re interested in watching the process, then check out the video after the break. If you fancy a go at automatic film digitising yourself (preferably not on unique historical prints!) then we’ve shown
projects to do just that
in the past.
Thanks to [Cliff Claven] for the tip. | 9 | 6 | [
{
"comment_id": "6553108",
"author": "Bruce Perens K6BP",
"timestamp": "2022-12-19T17:33:11",
"content": "I worked on the digital part of this process for Pixar and Kodak Cinesite, and our work was used to restore “Snow White” and other classical films. The point about nitrate film base is not simpl... | 1,760,372,461.05727 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2022/12/19/damaged-soyuz-may-leave-crew-without-a-ride-home/ | Damaged Soyuz May Leave Crew Without A Ride Home | Tom Nardi | [
"Current Events",
"Featured",
"Space"
] | [
"coolant",
"international space station",
"iss",
"leak",
"rescue",
"Soyuz"
] | Though oddly beautiful in its own way, it’s a sight no astronaut wants to see: their spacecraft, the only way they have to return to Earth, ejecting countless iridescent droplets of
something
into space.
When the crew of
Apollo 13
saw their craft literally bleeding out on their trip to the Moon it was clear the mission, and ultimately their lives, were in real jeopardy. Luckily the current situation is not nearly as dire, as the
leaking Soyuz MS-22 spacecraft docked to the International Space Station
doesn’t pose any immediate danger to those aboard the orbiting laboratory. But it’s still an unprecedented situation, and getting its crew home will require engineers on the ground to make some very difficult decisions.
This situation is still developing, and neither NASA nor their Russian counterpart Roscosmos have released much in the way of specifics. But we can make some educated guesses from the video and images we’ve seen of the stricken Soyuz capsule, and from what’s been shown to the public so far, things aren’t looking good.
Running on Empty
On Wednesday the 14th, just as Russian cosmonauts Sergey Prokopyev and Dmitriy Petelin were preparing to begin a scheduled extravehicular activity (EVA) that would have taken them outside of the Station, an alert went off indicating that coolant levels in the docked Soyuz MS-22 capsule were dropping. Upon panning external cameras over to the spacecraft, it was immediately clear this was no false alarm — as liquid could been seen spewing out of the rear of the vehicle.
As illustrated in the diagram above, the Soyuz pumps coolant through a pair of heat exhangers located in the Orbital Module (left) and Descent Module (center), which ultimately makes its way to several external radiators mounted on outside of the Service Module (right). The coolant lines that connect these modules actually run along the outside of the craft’s hull, though they are obscured from view by the thermal blankets that cover most of the vehicle’s exterior.
While the exact cause of the leak is not yet known, the current theory is that a micrometeoroid or other piece of small space debris hit either the radiators or one of the external cooling lines. The hope was that closer examination over the weekend might help determine the cause of the leak, but in any event, the result is the same. With no way to stem the flow, it’s believed that all of the system’s coolant was dumped overboard during the event, leaving the system inoperable.
The system is responsible for not only keeping the inside of the Descent Module at a comfortable temperature for its human occupants, but for cooling the flight computers and other equipment buried deep within the craft. Trying to repair and refill the cooling system while in orbit would be exceptionally difficult, and is almost certainly going to be deemed too risky to even attempt. So the question Russian engineers must now answer is whether or not the Soyuz can safely bring its crew of three back to Earth with its cooling system offline.
Remote Rescue
At the time of this writing, no official announcement has been made, but many space pundits are of the opinion that safest approach is to assume the Soyuz MS-22 is no longer flightworthy. While a system test performed after the leak was discovered showed that the vehicle appeared to be operating normally, and its thrusters were still functional, the possibility of the computer overheating and shutting down during flight presents an unacceptable risk to the crew. The reentry procedure can be performed manually if absolutely necessary, but it’s likely the capsule would land outside of the designated coordinates, complicating recovery operations.
Salyut 6 with docked Soyuz and Progress spacecraft.
Of course, that assumes the cooling system is the only thing damaged. If the craft was struck with a piece of space debris, there’s no telling what other systems could have been impacted without a thorough examination — something that may
difficult to do from an EVA
.
If Roscosmos determines that Soyuz MS-22 is no longer fit for purpose, they will likely decide to fly the next Soyuz to the ISS remotely so it can replace the damaged vehicle. If possible, they may even push up the currently scheduled March 2023 launch date.
While exceedingly rare, such a situation isn’t without precedent. In April 1979, when the viability of their Soyuz capsule came into question, the crew of the
Soviet Salyut 6 station
had to wait on a fresh spacecraft to bring them home. In the end, both the vehicles made it back to Earth safely, but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t worth the additional time and expense to make sure the crew had the best chance of survival.
Not Enough Lifeboats
But there’s a problem with this plan. If it’s determined that the Soyuz MS-22 is no longer safe for human occupants and needs to be replaced, it will mean that for the first time in its history, there won’t be enough spacecraft docked to the International Space Station to bring all of the crew members home in the event of an emergency.
In the unlikely event that the ISS suffers some catastrophic failure before a new Soyuz can be sent up, Sergey Prokopyev and Dmitry Petelin, as well as American astronaut Francisco Rubio, won’t have a safe way off the Station. As a matter of necessity they would likely be instructed to board the semi-functional Soyuz MS-22 and prepare to undock should they need to evacuate, but what happens after that in this nightmare scenario is anyone’s guess. Hopefully, we won’t have to find out. | 54 | 15 | [
{
"comment_id": "6553063",
"author": "Ostracus",
"timestamp": "2022-12-19T15:59:21",
"content": "A space Titanic.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "6553073",
"author": "aaronc",
"timestamp": "2022-12-19T16:18:58",
"conten... | 1,760,372,461.320835 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2022/12/19/mini-cheetah-clone-teardown-by-none-other-than-original-designer/ | Mini Cheetah Clone Teardown, By None Other Than Original Designer | Donald Papp | [
"Robots Hacks",
"Teardown"
] | [
"clone",
"mini cheetah",
"robot",
"teardown"
] | [Ben Katz] designed the original MIT Mini Cheetah robot, which easily captured attention and imagination with its decidedly un-robotic movements and backflips. Not long after [Ben]’s masters thesis went online, clones of the actuators started to show up at overseas sellers, and a few months after that, clones of the whole robot. [Ben] recently had the opportunity to
disassemble just such a clone by Dogotix
and see what was inside.
Mini sheep, meet mini cheetah.
Amusingly, one of the first things he noticed is that the “feet” are still just off-the-shelf squash balls, same as his
original mini cheetah
design. As for the rest of the leg, inside is a belt that goes past some tensioners, connecting the knee joint to an actuator in the shoulder.
As one may expect, these parts are subject to a fair bit of stress, so they have to be sturdy. This design allows for slender yet strong legs without putting an actuator in the knee joint, and you may recall we’ve seen a similar robot
gain the ability to stand with the addition of a rigid brace
.
It’s interesting to read [Ben]’s thoughts as he disassembles and photographs the unit, and you’ll have to
read his post
to catch them all. But in the meantime, why not take a moment to see how a neighbor’s curious sheep react to the robot in the video embedded below? The robot botches a backflip due to a low battery, but the sheep seem suitably impressed anyway. | 21 | 4 | [
{
"comment_id": "6553030",
"author": "Ren",
"timestamp": "2022-12-19T14:26:03",
"content": "This is why you should either patent your stuff or make it “as a service”. Bill Gates can buy anything and play any video game he wants. By comparison Richard Stallman can’t even afford decent clothes. If Lin... | 1,760,372,461.514651 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2022/12/18/whats-inside-a-super-cheap-projector-not-a-lot/ | What’s Inside A Super-Cheap Projector? Not A Lot! | Donald Papp | [
"Teardown",
"Video Hacks"
] | [
"cheap",
"lcd",
"optics",
"projector"
] | [Raymond Ma] has a penchant for browsing Aliexpress and purchasing curious pieces of hardware that are as high on promises as they are low on cost. This is a process he aptly sums up with his opening line of “I should have known better, but…” Luckily, these devices all get torn down and analyzed so we can each enjoy and share a little slice of disappointment.
One such item is the $30 USD
YT200 mini projector
, which at 320×180 is almost as low on pixels as it is on cost. Still, [Raymond] looks inside to find out if there is perhaps more hacking potential than there is image resolution.
The YT200 lacks any kind of normal video input, and the anemic 15 lumen output is brazenly branded as a feature to protect children’s eyes from excessive brightness.
Light from the single LED is collimated with some Fresnel lenses. That light passes through an LCD panel, and from there the image bounces off a mirror and through a focusing lens housed in a spiral guide. Focal adjustments are made with a small lever, and the whole assembly provides just enough friction to prevent the lens from moving out of focus on its own.
The device actually does work fairly well for what it is: a way to play a range of different media types off a connected USB storage device. As long as one is in a dark room, anyway.
[Raymond] hopes to find some alternate use for the device. Might we suggest
projecting into a frosted glass globe
to create a sort of spherical display? A
spooky eye animation
on a USB stick might pair well with that. | 39 | 12 | [
{
"comment_id": "6552574",
"author": "Daniel",
"timestamp": "2022-12-18T12:42:23",
"content": "Reminds me of the Logilink AA0023 iPhone 4 projector that was sold as surplus four years ago.https://www.mikrocontroller.net/topic/463384",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{... | 1,760,372,461.449035 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2022/12/18/robot-dog-has-animal-magnetism/ | Robot Dog Has Animal Magnetism | Al Williams | [
"Robots Hacks"
] | [
"electropermanent",
"robot",
"robot dog"
] | Robot “dogs” are all the rage lately, but you probably haven’t seen one that can climb up a wall. Researchers in Korea have
made one that can
, assuming the wall is made out of a metal that a magnet can stick to at least. The robot, MARVEL or magnetically adhesive robot for versatile and expeditious locomotion, might be pressing its luck on acronyms, but it is pretty agile as you can see in the video below. Tests showed the robot walking on walls and ceilings. It can cross gaps and obstacles and can even handle a curved storage tank with paint and rust.
The robot weighs 8 kilograms (17.6 pounds), can carry 2 – 3 kg of payload, and operates without a tether. Each foot contains both an electropermanent magnet and magnetorheological elastomers. If you haven’t seen them before, an electropermanent magnet, or EPM, is a magnet that can be turned on or off electronically. The elastomer is a polymer containing ferromagnetic particles that can alter the material’s properties in response to a magnetic field.
EPMs have two parts. One part is a simple permanent magnet. The other is a soft core easily magnetized by a surrounding coil. If you magnetize the soft core to oppose the permanent magnet, the fields cancel out, effectively turning off the magnet. If you magnetize it the other way, it reinforces the field.
This is better than an electromagnet in this application because turning the magnet on or off only requires a brief pulse. If you want your robot to hang out on the ceiling with Spider Man indefinitely, you don’t have to worry about draining your batteries while keeping an electromagnet engaged.
Overall, an interesting robot. Most
wall-climbing robots we’ve seen are pretty lightweight
. We don’t see nearly as many that can have the feeling of
clinging to the ceiling
. | 7 | 7 | [
{
"comment_id": "6552531",
"author": "Billy Bob",
"timestamp": "2022-12-18T09:36:59",
"content": "“ROBOT DOG HAS ANIMAL MAGNETISM”.Misleading headline. I watched the whole video and it definitely does not attract, or stick to animals.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
... | 1,760,372,461.554121 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2022/12/17/a-binaural-microphone-for-the-great-outdoors/ | A Binaural Microphone For The Great Outdoors | Jenny List | [
"digital audio hacks"
] | [
"binaural",
"binaural microphone",
"boundary microphone",
"pzm"
] | A binaural recording is designed to mimic as closely as possible the experience of listening through human ears, and thus binaural microphones are often shaped like the human head with the microphone cartridges placed where the ears would be. That’s not the only way to make a binaural microphone though, and the Crown
Stereo Ambient Sampling System,
or SASS, did the same thing with a pair of pressure zone microphones for outdoor recordings. [Filip Mulier] doesn’t have one of the originals, but he’s done his best
to make a SASS-like microphone of his own
.
The attractive thing about this design is its simplicity, making use of foam sheets for the main body, with packing board as a rain deflector and a couple of layers of non-woven cloth as a wind filter. Perhaps best of all though are the recordings, in which we hear ambient recording at its finest. Listen with headphones, we suggest
the dawn chorus
.
If binaural recording and stereo interests you,
we’ve taken a closer look in the past
. | 15 | 7 | [
{
"comment_id": "6552577",
"author": "concretedog",
"timestamp": "2022-12-18T12:46:50",
"content": "Best set of binaural mics I made are a matched pair of small electrets hacked into a set of earbuds. Gets the mics in the right position surrounded by correct (ish!) human ear and head geometries. Ste... | 1,760,372,461.373771 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2022/12/17/bbc-microbit-as-handheld-synthesizer/ | BBC Micro:Bit As Handheld Synthesizer | Bryan Cockfield | [
"Microcontrollers",
"Musical Hacks"
] | [
"bbc micro bit",
"led matrix",
"low pass filter",
"micro bit",
"Micro:bit",
"micropython",
"synth",
"synthesizer"
] | The BBC Micro:bit, while not quite as popular in our community as other microcontroller development boards, has a few quirks that can make it a much more interesting piece of hardware to build a project around than an Arduino. [Turi] took note of these unique features and decided that it was the
perfect platform to build a synthesizer on
.
The Micro:bit includes two important elements that make this project work: the LED matrix and a gyro sensor. [Turi] built a 5×5 button matrix for inputs and paired each to one of the diodes, which eliminates the problem of false inputs. The gyro sensor is used for detuning, which varies the pitch of any generated sound by a set amount according to the orientation of the device. It also includes a passive low-pass filter to make the sound more pleasant to the ear, especially for younger players of the machine. He’s released the source code on
his GitHub page
for anyone interested in recreating it.
While this was a one-off project for [Turi], he notes that using MicroPython to program it instead of C led to a lot of unnecessary complications, and the greater control allowed by C would enable some extra features with less hassle. Still, it’s a fun project that really showcases the unique features of this board,
much like this tiny Sumo robot
we covered over the summer. | 4 | 2 | [
{
"comment_id": "6552566",
"author": "alialiali",
"timestamp": "2022-12-18T12:09:38",
"content": "The Pocket Operators by Teenage Engineering actually look great and have an exposed PCB design. I was hoping this would be an open hardware version of those.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
... | 1,760,372,461.595842 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2022/12/17/printed-film-camera-gets-10-seconds-out-of-a-35mm-roll/ | Printed Film Camera Gets 10 Seconds Out Of A 35mm Roll | Jenny List | [
"Video Hacks"
] | [
"35mm film",
"camera",
"movie camera"
] | When the British budget electronics brand Amstrad released their first budget VHS camcorder in the mid 1980s, they advertised it as making a filmmaker out of everyone. Now everyone truly is a filmmaker of sorts with their always-handy mobile phones, even though possessing a camera does not give you the talent of Steven Spielberg.
Such easy access to video hasn’t dimmed the allure of old-style film though, and there is a band of enthusiasts who seek out the older medium. [Joshua Bird] is one, and he’s produced a rather special 3D printed camera that can
capture short videos on a standard roll of 35mm camera film
. The downside is that, at the going rate, filming your masterpiece comes out to approximately $600 USD for each 10 minutes of footage. Better keep that dense exposition to a minimum.
The two most important mechanisms in a movie camera are the shutter and the film advance. The first is a disc that spins once a frame with an arc-shaped aperture over a section of it to let the light through, while the second is a hook that engages with the film once a frame after the shutter aperture has passed, to advance it to the next frame. Designing these to work in printed form is no easy task, and [Joshua] takes the reader through the various twists and turns in their development. Beyond that he takes a novel approach to a through-the-lens viewfinder, eschewing a split prism for an angled mirror on the shutter disk.
With each frame taking a fraction of the 35mm frame it’s clear from the video below that this doesn’t deliver the highest quality image. But that’s not the point of a device like this, above all it’s a working movie camera that he made himself. Since
some of us have interests in that direction
, dare we say we’re envious? Meanwhile, this isn’t the first
3D printed movie camera
we’ve brought you. | 17 | 12 | [
{
"comment_id": "6552403",
"author": "Ren",
"timestamp": "2022-12-18T01:33:49",
"content": "Well, it needs work…",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "6552427",
"author": "jbx",
"timestamp": "2022-12-18T03:00:13",
"content": "My father mad... | 1,760,372,461.955425 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2022/12/17/citizen-driven-network-monitors-public-service-radio-for-natural-disaster-alerts/ | Citizen-Driven Network Monitors Public Service Radio For Natural Disaster Alerts | Dan Maloney | [
"Radio Hacks"
] | [
"public safety",
"RTL-SDR",
"scanner",
"Starlink",
"wildfire"
] | Time is of the essence in almost every emergency situation, especially when it comes to wildfires. A wind-driven fire can roar across a fuel-rich landscape like a freight train, except one that can turn on a dime or jump a mile-wide gap in a matter of seconds. Usually, the only realistic defense against fires like these is to get the hell out of their way as soon as possible and make room for the professionals to do what they can to stop the flames.
Unfortunately, most people living in areas under threat of wildfires and other natural disasters are often operating in an information vacuum. Official channels take time to distribute evacuation orders, and when seconds count, such delays can cost lives. That’s the
hole that Watch Duty seeks to fill
.
Watch Duty is a non-profit wildfire alerting, mapping, and tracking service that provides near-real-time information to those living in wildfire country. Their intelligence is generated by a network of experienced fire reporters, who live in wildfire-prone areas and monitor public service radio transmissions and other sources to get a picture of what’s going on in their specific area. When the data indicate an incident is occurring, maps are updated and alerts go out via a smartphone app. Reporters have to abide by a strict
code of conduct
designed to ensure the privacy of citizens and the safety of first responders.
While Watch Duty’s network covers a substantial area of California — the only state covered so far — there were still a significant number of dead zones, mostly in the more remote areas of the Sierra Nevada Mountains and in the northern coastal regions. To fill these gaps, Watch Duty recently launched
Watch Duty Echo
, which consists of a network of remote listening posts.
Each station is packed with RTL-SDR receivers that cover a huge swath of spectrum used by the local fire, law enforcement, EMS agencies — any organization likely to be called to respond to an incident. In addition, each station has an SDR dedicated to monitoring ADS-B transponders and air band frequencies, to get a heads-up on incidents requiring aerial support. The listening posts have wideband discone antennas and a dedicated 1090-MHz ADS-B antenna, with either a cellular modem or a Starlink terminal to tie into the Watch Duty network.
Hats off to the folks at Watch Duty for putting considerable effort into a system like this and operating it for the public benefit. Those who choose to live close to nature do so at their own risk, of course, but a citizen-driven network that leverages technology can make that risk just a little more manageable. | 12 | 7 | [
{
"comment_id": "6552469",
"author": "craig",
"timestamp": "2022-12-18T06:26:01",
"content": "So someone listens to all the everything all the time, and if a fire is happening, a corvette a smart phone app? Is this their full time job or what? Good luck.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
... | 1,760,372,461.903836 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2022/12/17/diy-square-guitar-is-anything-but/ | DIY Square Guitar Is Anything But | Kristina Panos | [
"Musical Hacks"
] | [
"Bo Diddley",
"boxy",
"guitar",
"ice cream sandwich",
"sapele"
] | One of the greatest things about this place is how y’all constantly feed off of each other. And while this isn’t exactly an example of that, it’s pretty darn close — we feature a square guitar build one day, and get a tip about
another way different and perhaps more functional one
the next.
[Craig Lindley] had no idea of his luthier powers until an email from StewMac inspired him to build his own guitar. Rather than strip a perfectly good axe or two for all the parts, he bought the hardware and a pre-made neck, and built the body himself. The Bo Diddley-inspired boxy body is an ice cream sandwich of sapele, inlaid with white ash around the perimeter which is quite the classy look. Speaking of looks, [Craig] worried that all-gold hardware would be too flashy, but we think it looks great.
Not hard-mode enough for you? Well,
here’s a guitar made from scratch
, (more or less). If you’d rather have more of a teaching guitar,
behold this LED-laden axe
. | 3 | 3 | [
{
"comment_id": "6552296",
"author": "Nikolai",
"timestamp": "2022-12-17T19:19:20",
"content": "Remember a guitar made from shovel?https://hackaday.com/2010/09/04/shovel-guitar/",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "6552405",
"author": "Ren",
... | 1,760,372,461.848459 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2022/12/17/yesterdays-future-is-brighter-today/ | Yesterday’s Future Is Brighter Today | Elliot Williams | [
"classic hacks",
"Rants",
"Retrocomputing"
] | [
"demo",
"demoscene",
"newsletter",
"progress",
"retrocomputing"
] | The
demoscene
never ceases to amaze. Back in the mid-80s, people wouldn’t just hack software to remove the copy restrictions, but would go the extra mile and add some fun artwork and greetz. Over the ensuing decade the artform broke away from the cracks entirely, and the elite hackers were making electronic music with amazing accompanying graphics to simply show off.
Looked at from today, some of the demos are amazing given that they were done on such primitive hardware, but those were the cutting edge home computers at the time. I don’t know what today’s equivalent is, with CGI-powered blockbusters running in mainstream cinemas, the state of the art in graphics has moved on quite a bit. But the state of the
old
art doesn’t rest either. I’ve just
seen the most amazing demo on a ZX Spectrum
.
Simply put, this demo does things in 2022 on a computer from 1982 that were literally impossible at the time. Not because the hardware was different – this is using retro gear after all – but because the state of our communal knowledge has changed so dramatically over the last 40 years. What makes 2020s demos more amazing than their 1990s equivalents is that we’ve learned, discovered, and shared enough new tricks with each other that we can do what was previously impossible. Not because of silicon tech, but because of the wetware. (And maybe I shouldn’t underestimate the impact of today’s coding environments and other tooling.)
I love the old demoscene, probably for nostalgia reasons, but I love the new demoscene because it shows us how far we’ve come. That, and it’s almost like reverse time-travel, taking today’s knowledge and pushing it back into gear of the past.
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
! | 31 | 8 | [
{
"comment_id": "6552200",
"author": "The Commenter Formerly Known As Ren",
"timestamp": "2022-12-17T15:19:15",
"content": "The second RPU in 6502 was buggy so it was decided to run both at once with a passthrough to joystick port. The system described is similar to the later family of Intel x86. Al... | 1,760,372,462.080933 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2022/12/17/say-the-magic-word-and-the-tinysa-goes-ultra/ | Say The Magic Word, And The TinySA Goes Ultra | Al Williams | [
"Reviews"
] | [
"spectrum analyzer",
"tinysa"
] | We’ve looked at the TinySA spectrum analyzer in the past. However, the recent Ultra edition offers an increase in range from 800 MHz to 6 GHz. How does it work? [IMSAI Guy]
tells us in a recent video
that you can watch below. In addition to an increased frequency range, the new device offers a larger display and enhancements to the signal generator and bandpass filtering. It also has an optional LNA. All this, of course, is at a price since the Ultra sells at a little more than twice the original unit’s price. Still, $120 or so for a 6 GHz spectrum analyzer isn’t bad.
For some reason, you have to put a passcode in to enable the Ultra mode, although the passcode appears to be common knowledge and available on the device’s wiki. You can presume they could, at some point, make this feature or others require a paid passcode, but for now, it is just a minor inconvenience.
Reminds us of a certain oscilloscope
that’s become quite popular in our community.
One thing you should be aware of, however, is that the Ultra mode uses a mixer to downconvert the incoming signal to the ordinary 800 MHz range. That means, as you can see in the video, that the local oscillator puts out some signal at the input. The level is relatively low, but still something to be aware of if you are trying to make a precision measurement.
The video compares the device to an HP 8591E spectrum analyzer. It tops out at 1.8 GHz and runs about $2,500 new. Even on eBay, you can expect to pay between $500 and $1000 for one of these. The results seem to be comparable, for the most part.
We looked at the device’s
predecessor
back in 2020. We also did
a full-blown review
a little bit later. | 15 | 9 | [
{
"comment_id": "6552220",
"author": "Ren",
"timestamp": "2022-12-17T15:56:48",
"content": "Interesting, after watching the video, I wonder if I would be better off buying the HP unit instead.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "6552234",
"autho... | 1,760,372,462.004292 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2022/12/17/differential-swerve-drive-is-highly-maneuverable/ | Differential Swerve Drive Is Highly Maneuverable | Lewin Day | [
"Robots Hacks"
] | [
"differential swerve drive",
"wheel"
] | There are a variety of wheel designs out there that can provide for rotation and translation in various directions. The differential swerve drive, though, as demonstrated by [WildWillyRobots], uses regular wheels on a complex mount
to achieve impressive directional flexibility.
The design uses a regular round wheel mounted on an axle, which has a gear on one end. This allows the wheel to be driven. The wheel and axle is mounted upon a circular carrier, which is then fitted with a pair of surrounding gears on bearings. Differentially driving these gears changes the way the drive behaves. With both gears driven in the same direction, the wheel rotates on its vertical axis to point in different directions. If both gears are driven in opposite direction, the wheel itself is driven. Relatively varying the speed of both gears allows the direction and drive of the wheel to be controlled. The result is a wheel that can rotate to any angle, and then be driven forwards or backwards as well.
Fitting a set of these wheels to a robot creates a highly maneuverable platform. As a bonus, it doesn’t have the drawback of poor grip that is common with various
omniwheel-type designs. | 17 | 7 | [
{
"comment_id": "6552075",
"author": "Mike Massen, Perth, Western Australia",
"timestamp": "2022-12-17T09:39:55",
"content": "Nice idea, reminds me of the wheel arrangement of the Audi in “I Robot” with actor Will Smith, hmm mightbe a way to achieve that too with magnetic variations ;-)",
"paren... | 1,760,372,462.349035 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2022/12/16/kids-jukebox-based-on-arduino-with-rfid/ | Kids’ Jukebox Based On Arduino With RFID | Bryan Cockfield | [
"Musical Hacks"
] | [
"arduino",
"audio",
"audiobook",
"Child",
"children",
"fable",
"grimm",
"grimmboy",
"mp3",
"music",
"NFC",
"rfid",
"stories",
"tonuino"
] | Consumer electronics aimed at young children tend to be quite janky and cheap-looking, and they often have to be to survive the extreme stress-testing normal use in this situation. You could buy a higher quality item intended for normal use, but this carries the risk of burning a hole in the pockets of the parents. To thread the needle on this dilemma for a child’s audiobook player,
[Turi] built the Grimmboy for a relative of his
.
Taking its name from the Brothers Grimm, the player is able of playing a number of children’s stories and fables in multiple languages, with each physically represented by a small cassette tape likeness with an RFID tag hidden in each one. A tape can be selected and placed in the player, and the Arduino at the center of it will recognize the tag and play the corresponding MP3 file stored locally on an SD card. There are simple controls and all the circuitry to support its lithium battery as well. All of the source code that [Turi] used to build this is available on
the project’s GitHub page
.
This was also featured at the
Arudino blog
as well, and we
actually featured a similar project
a while ago with a slightly different spin. Both are based on ideas from Tonuino, an open source project aimed at turning Arduinos into MP3 players. If you’re looking to build something with a few more features, though, take a look at
this custom build based on the RP2040 microcontroller
instead. | 10 | 8 | [
{
"comment_id": "6552061",
"author": "Oliver",
"timestamp": "2022-12-17T08:53:48",
"content": "Looks like an offline hope source version of the toniebox.https://tonies.com/en-gb/tonieboxes/Job well done!",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "655243... | 1,760,372,462.200476 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2022/12/16/what-happens-when-implants-become-abandonware/ | What Happens When Implants Become Abandonware? | Navarre Bartz | [
"hardware",
"Medical Hacks",
"Repair Hacks"
] | [
"bankruptcy",
"bionic eye",
"brain prosthesis",
"implant",
"mri",
"obsolete hardware",
"proprietary"
] | You’ve probably had a company not support one of your devices as long as you’d like, whether it was a smart speaker or a phone, but what happens if you have a medical implant that is no longer supported? [Liam Drew] did a deep dive on what the
failure of several neurotechnology startups
means for the patients using their devices.
Recent advances in electronics and neurology have led to new treatments for neurological problems with implantable devices like the Autonomic Technologies (ATI) implant for managing cluster headaches. Now that the company has gone out of business, users are left on their own trying to hack the device to increase its lifespan or turning back to pharmaceuticals that don’t do the job as well as tapping directly into the nervous system. Since removing defunct implants is expensive (up to $40k!) and includes the usual list of risks for surgery, many patients have opted to keep their nonfunctional implants.
The failure of so many implant startups does raise the question of how we can better facilitate advances in implant technology while making sure there’s a safety net of spare parts and documentation should these startups fail. The
Institute for Functional Restoration
out of Case Western Reserve University is dedicated to designing Open Source implants for patients, and there is growing interest in standardization of some neurotechnology implants as has already happened in the pacemaker industry.
We’ve previously covered the failure of
Second Sight implant company
, how more general IoT companies try to
get out of long-term support
, and what happens when those more mundane
hardware companies go out of business
. | 32 | 14 | [
{
"comment_id": "6551999",
"author": "Stuart Longland",
"timestamp": "2022-12-17T04:44:16",
"content": "IMO, if a device is implanted in a human, there should be a guarantee that either:(1) the device is supported by its manufacturer for the lifetime of the patient…or (2) the full and complete desig... | 1,760,372,462.152588 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2022/12/16/antenna-mount-designed-for-on-the-go-sdr/ | Antenna Mount Designed For On-The-Go SDR | Bryan Cockfield | [
"Radio Hacks"
] | [
"3d modeling",
"3d printed",
"antenna",
"laptop",
"mount",
"sdr",
"software-defined radio"
] | Software-defined radio is all the rage these days, and for good reason. It eliminates or drastically reduces the amount of otherwise pricey equipment needed to transmit or even just receive, and can pack many more features than most affordable radio setups otherwise would have. It also makes it possible to go mobile much more easily. [Rostislav Persion] uses a laptop for on-the-go SDR activities, and
designed this 3D printed antenna mount to make his radio adventures much easier
.
The antenna mount is a small 3D printed enclosure for his NESDR Smart Dongle with a wide base to attach to the back of his laptop lid with Velcro so it can easily be removed or attached. This allows him to run a single USB cable to the dongle and have it oriented properly for maximum antenna effectiveness without something cumbersome like a dedicated antenna stand. [Rostislav] even modeled the entire assembly so that he could run a stress analysis on it, and from that data ended up filling it with epoxy to ensure maximum lifespan with minimal wear on the components.
We definitely appreciate the simple and clean build which allows easy access to HF and higher frequencies while mobile, especially since the 3D modeling takes it a step beyond simply printing a 3D accessory and hoping for the best. There’s even
an improved version on his site here
. To go even one step further, though, we’ve seen
the antennas themselves get designed and then 3D printed directly
. | 15 | 8 | [
{
"comment_id": "6551909",
"author": "Steven-X",
"timestamp": "2022-12-17T00:28:17",
"content": "I like how the SDR dongle was integrated, so it beyond just a antenna mount. I also like the Velcro attachment. Maybe not rocket science, but still a solid, practical design.",
"parent_id": null,
... | 1,760,372,462.248578 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2022/12/16/a-simple-high-fidelity-diy-mic-pre-amp/ | A Simple High-Fidelity DIY Mic Pre Amp | Lewin Day | [
"Misc Hacks"
] | [
"audio",
"mic",
"microphone",
"phantom power",
"pre-amp",
"preamp"
] | If you’re doing any serious work with microphones, you’ll typically find yourself in want of a dedicated preamp. [ojg] needed just such a thing for acoustic measurement duties, and set about working up a cheap DIY design
by the name of ThatMicPre.
The design is based around the THAT1510 preamp IC, known for its good frequency response and low harmonic distortion and noise. The design is also compatible with THAT1512, SSM2019, and INA217 chips as well. [ojg] gave the design switch-controlled gain levels, providing greater accuracy than a potentiometer adjustment, and the ability to supply phantom power for mics that require it. The PCB is designed to rely on through-hole parts and common connectors for easy assembly.
The design is open source, and has already been built by others
on the DIYAudio forums.
Built into a simple case, it looks like a handsome and well-built piece of audio equipment. We’ve featured quite a few unique preamps
over the years
, and if you’ve been building your own,
we’d love to see those too! | 13 | 7 | [
{
"comment_id": "6551845",
"author": "Murray",
"timestamp": "2022-12-16T21:27:55",
"content": "I’d recomwnd a few changes.The 1n4004s on the input side are pretty slow 1n4148s mat be better suited. The 2 zeners for the phantom supply are a source of noise and a 100nF and a 10nF in parallel to them c... | 1,760,372,462.298354 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2022/12/16/foot-pedal-ups-vim-productivity-brings-ergonomic-benefits/ | Foot Pedal Ups Vim Productivity, Brings Ergonomic Benefits | Lewin Day | [
"Peripherals Hacks"
] | [
"foot pedal",
"pi pico",
"usb hid",
"vi",
"vim"
] | Vim is the greatest or the worst text editor of all time, depending on the tribe you’re in. Either way, members of both camps can appreciate this build from [Chris Price],
which uses a foot pedal to ease operations for the user.
The basic concept was to use a pedal to enable switching between normal and insert modes. In Vim’s predecessor, vi, switching modes was easy, with the ESC key located neatly by the Q on the keyboard of the ADM-3A terminal. On modern keyboards, though, it’s a pain, and so a foot pedal is a desirable solution. In the Vim world, it’s referred to as a “Vim clutch.”
The build used a cheap pedal switch sourced from eBay, into which a Raspberry Pi Pico was installed. The Pico was hooked up to the switch contacts, and programmed to act as a USB HID device. When the pedal is pressed down, the Pico sends an “i” keypress to enter Vim’s insert mode. Releasing the pedal has the Pico send a “ESC” keypress to return to normal mode.
Those that use
Vim
on a regular basis would likely appreciate the productivity improvements of such a device. Plus, there’s some ergonomic benefits to not having to strain one’s hand over to reach the ESC key. Of course,
it’s an old-school solution
, but there’s still something so compelling and next-level about having a foot pedal hooked up to one’s dev rig. | 53 | 22 | [
{
"comment_id": "6551798",
"author": "BsAtHome",
"timestamp": "2022-12-16T19:51:04",
"content": "But sometimes you want to ‘a’ppend and quite often to ‘A’ppend or simply ‘c’hange and ‘I’nsert. And then to ‘o’ on the next line. And programming loves … repeats.You need a foot-key board to cover your t... | 1,760,372,462.537103 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2022/12/16/battery-engineering-hack-chat-gets-charged-up/ | Battery Engineering Hack Chat Gets Charged Up | Tom Nardi | [
"Engineering",
"Hackaday Columns",
"Slider"
] | [
"battery",
"Betavoltaic",
"energy storage",
"fuel cell",
"Hack Chat",
"solid-state battery",
"supercapacitor"
] | Turn the clock back a couple of decades, and the only time the average person would have given much thought to batteries was when the power would go out, and they suddenly needed to juice up their flashlight or portable radio. But today, high-capacity batteries have become part and parcel to our increasingly digital lifestyle. In fact, there’s an excellent chance the device your reading this on is currently running on battery power, or at least, is capable of it.
So let’s get to know batteries better. What’s the chemical process that allows them to work? For that matter, what even is a battery in the first place?
It’s these questions, and more, that made up this week’s
Battery Engineering Hack Chat with Dave Sopchak
. Our last Hack Chat of 2022 ended up being one of the longest in recent memory, with the conversation starting over an hour before the scheduled kickoff and running another half hour beyond when emcee Dan Maloney officially made his closing remarks. Not bad for a topic that so often gets taken for granted.
Dave Sopchak
Somewhat counterintuitively, the Battery Engineering Hack Chat actually started with a lively discussion about fuel cells — a subject Dave also has considerable experience with. Considering they powered the Apollo missions to the Moon back in the 1960s, you’d think by now they’d be built into the old Wagon Queen Family Truckster.
The reality is that we lack the hydrogen distribution network that would make such vehicles practical, but of course nobody is going to build that network unless there’s demand,
so it’s something of a recursive problem
. As for fuel cells powering our homes, Dave points out those units tend to run natural gas, making them unattractive considering the strong push towards renewable resources.
From there, the topic moves on to supercapacitors, which in turn leads to a discussion about what is and is not a battery. The average Hackaday reader surely knows that a capacitor and battery are conceptually similar in that they store energy, but the comparison ends there. As Dave explains, to be considered a true battery, there needs to be a chemical reaction. While we might not realize it, there’s actually quite a bit going on inside that nondescript lithium-ion pouch; the positive and negative electrodes will change their volume considerably when going from a discharged to charged state, a product of oxidation and reduction.
Dave goes on to say that the inherently dynamic nature of batteries is why he takes issue with so-called “solid-state batteries” that many hope will
provide the next generation of portable power
. A true solid-state component, that is a semiconductor device with no moving parts, would not experience changes in volume during use. So as the electrodes inside a battery experience oxidation or reduction, they cannot by definition be solid-state.
Dave says the “informal and ever expanding definition” of what makes a battery only serves to muddy the waters around the technology. As another example, the
radioisotope “batteries” that power deep space probes and Mars rovers
are more properly known as betavoltaics — in that they provide power not through a chemical reaction but through beta particles emitted from a radioactive source.
Don’t call this a battery when Dave Sopchak is around.
The Chat really covers a lot of ground, not all of it strictly related to battery technology, and makes for a fun read on a long winters night. We’d like to thank Dave Sopchak for stopping by and spurring on such a fascinating and lively discussion, closing the 2022 season of Hack Chats on a definite high note.
We’re currently putting together a slate of exciting hosts for 2023, and one of them could be you! If you’d like to be considered for a Hack Chat,
simply fill out the application form
and let us know what you’d like to talk about.
The Hack Chat is a weekly online chat session hosted by leading experts from all corners of the hardware hacking universe. It’s a great way for hackers connect in a fun and informal way, but if you can’t make it live, these overview posts as well as the
transcripts posted to Hackaday.io
make sure you don’t miss out. | 9 | 4 | [
{
"comment_id": "6551793",
"author": "Paul",
"timestamp": "2022-12-16T19:33:40",
"content": "““batteries” that power deep space probes and Mars rovers are more properly known as betavoltaics — in that they provide power not through a chemical reaction but through beta particles emitted from a radioa... | 1,760,372,462.589734 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2022/12/16/hackaday-podcast-197-decoding-vhs-engineering-the-tv-guardian-and-gitting-code-into-your-esp32s/ | Hackaday Podcast 197: Decoding VHS, Engineering The TV Guardian, And Gitting Code Into Your ESP32s | Kristina Panos | [
"Hackaday Columns",
"Podcasts"
] | [
"Hackaday Podcast"
] | This week, Editor-in-Chief Elliot Williams and Assignments Editor Kristina Panos delighted in the aural qualities of Kristina’s brand new, real (read: XLR) microphone before embarking on creating a podcast highlighting the best of the previous week’s hacks.
This week in the news, NASA returned to the Moon with Artemis I, and this time, there are CubeSats involved. After that, it’s on to the
What’s That Sound
results show, marred by Kristina’s cheating scandal (listening ahead of time) and Elliot’s reading the filename aloud before we started recording. Finally, we move on to the hacks — they start with a trip to the 90s both sonically and visually, and end with a really nice alarm clock that’s decidedly 70s, and definitely Hackaday.
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!
And/or
download it and listen offline
.
Where to Follow Hackaday Podcast
Places to follow Hackaday podcasts:
iTunes
Spotify
Stitcher
RSS
YouTube
Check
out our Libsyn landing page
Episode 197 Show Notes:
News:
NASA Aces Artemis I, But The Journey Has Just Begun
Unpacking The Stowaway Science Aboard Artemis I
What’s that Sound?
The sound was a moped in an industrial crusher/shredder, and the winner is [Borksniffer]!
Interesting Hacks of the Week:
VHS-Decode Project Could Help Archival Efforts
Retrotechtacular: Home Video Recording
Recreating The Sounds Of The ’90s With A YM3812 Synthesizer
ESP32 Projects From Northwestern University’s Embedded Electronics Class
Osprey Keyboard Lets The NRF52840 Spread Its Wings
Push ESP32 Over The Air Updates From GitHub
GitHub – turfptax/ugit: Micropython OTA update from github
There’s Nothing Square About This Rectangular Guitar
Quick Hacks:
Elliot’s Picks:
HUD-Like Clock Is A Transparent Time Display
Resurrecting PONG, One Jumper Wire At A Time
A VM In An AI
Kristina’s Picks:
Nostalgic 30-in-ONE Electronics Badge For DEF CON 30
Clean Slate Is A Vintage Amplifier-Inspired PC
Retro Alarm Clock With Nixies Is Thoroughly Modern Inside
Can’t-Miss Articles:
The Story Behind The TVGuardian Curse Catcher
History Of Closed Captions: The Analog Era
History Of Closed Captions: Entering The Digital Era
Ask Hackaday: Will Your 2030 Car Have AM Radio? | 0 | 0 | [] | 1,760,372,462.726246 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2022/12/16/motion-activated-clock-only-lights-up-on-command/ | Motion-Activated Clock Only Lights Up On Command | Lewin Day | [
"clock hacks"
] | [
"clock",
"motion sensor",
"pir",
"PIR sensor"
] | While some of us can fall asleep anywhere from a noisy auditorium to a brightly lit train station, others are more fussy, requiring quiet and dark to nod off. [Craig Lindley] likes to minimize light when he’s trying to sleep,
and decided to build himself a simple clock that wouldn’t disturb his rest.
The basic concept was to build a clock that would only display the time on command. In this case, that command would be a wave of a hand in front of the clock. The build is based around a Lilygo ESP32 T-Display unit, which combines the ESP32 with an LCD display and a battery management system. The ESP32’s WiFi connection provides accurate time via querying an NTP server. A passive infrared motion sensor is used to detect the motion of the user’s hand in front of the clock.
While all kinds of clocks and clock radios are available out there, few are motion activated. [Craig]’s work is a great demonstration of building your own solutions to your problems.
We’ve seen some other neat motion-sensing convenience hacks before, too! | 8 | 7 | [
{
"comment_id": "6551725",
"author": "Yo Mamma",
"timestamp": "2022-12-16T16:42:31",
"content": "My watch lights up when I touch it.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "6551756",
"author": "Paul",
"timestamp": "2022-12-16T18:00:36",
"con... | 1,760,372,462.633465 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2022/12/16/this-week-in-security-scamming-the-fbi-in-the-wild-and-ai-security/ | This Week In Security: Scamming The FBI, In The Wild, And AI Security | Jonathan Bennett | [
"Current Events",
"Featured",
"Slider",
"Software Hacks"
] | [
"In the Wild",
"smuggling",
"This Week in Security"
] | If you’re part of a government alphabet agency, particularly running a program to share information to fight cybercrime, make sure to
properly verify the identity of new members before admission
. Oh, and make sure the API is rate-limited so a malicious member can’t scrape the entire user database and sell it on a dark web forum.
Putting snark aside, this is exactly what has happened to the FBI’s InfraGuard program. A clever user applied to the program using a CEO’s name and phone number, and a convincing-looking email address. The program administrators didn’t do much due diligence, and approved the application. Awkward.
BSD Ping
First off, the good folks at FreeBSD have published
some errata about the ping problem
we talked about last week. First off, note that while ping does elevate to root privileges via setuid, those privileges are dropped before any data handling occurs. And ping on FreeBSD runs inside a
Capsicum sandbox
, a huge obstacle to system compromise from within ping. And finally, further examination of the bug in a real-world context casts doubt on the idea that Remote Code Execution (RCE) is actually possible due to stack layouts.
If someone messes up somewhere, go look if you messed up in the same or similar way somewhere else.
Sage advice from [Florian Obser], OpenBSD developer. So seeing the ping problem in FreeBSD, he set about
checking the OpenBSD ping implementation for identical or similar problems
. The vulnerable code isn’t shared between the versions, so he reached for afl++, a fuzzing tool with
an impressive list of finds
. Connect afl++ to the function in ping that handles incoming data, and see what shakes out. The conclusion? No crashes found in this particular effort, but several hangs were identified and fixed. And that is a win.
Citrix In The Wild
A
vulnerability in the Citrix ADC
(Application Delivery Controller), a load balancer for complex web applications, is being actively exploited. This one prompted the NSA to issue
a PDF advisory
, laying blame for the attacks at the feet of APT5, thought to be an Iranian actor.
The actual vulnerability is an old one, apparently quietly fixed a couple years ago. It has just now been discovered to be a serious problem, allowing a vulnerable device configured to do SAML authentication to be remotely compromised. Patches have now been made available for multiple vulnerable versions, and Indicators of Compromise (IoCs) have been published.
SPNEGO NEGOEX
That section header has strong Sneakers vibes, and my eyes keep trying to rearrange those letters into “Too Many Secrets”, but it just doesn’t fit. The “NEGOEX” refers to EXtended NEGOtation. “SPNEGO” is an acronym for “Simple and Protected GSSAPI Negotiation Mechanism”. And of course, GSSAPI is the “Generic Security Service Application Program Interface”. All that alphabet soup eventually boils down to a method to negotiate authentication protocols. The important bit is that by design, this protocol runs before any authentication takes place, and it’s accessible in a bunch of different services. SMB, RDP, SMTP, and even HTTP can expose SPNEGO negotiation. And of course,
there was a critical security vulnerability in Microsoft’s implementation
.
The vulnerability, CVE-2022-37958, was patched back in September, and classified as high severity. Just a couple days ago, [Valentina Palmiotti] demonstrated that the vulnerability could be used for Remote Execution, and It’s been bumped to critical severity. The full details will release in 2023, giving everyone plenty of time to get this one patched. Based on what’s been released so far, that’s going to be pretty important. The race is now on, to see whether any malicious groups figure out the details before then.
Demonstrating CVE-2022-37958 RCE Vuln. Reachable via any Windows application protocol that authenticates. Yes, that means RDP, SMB and many more. Please patch this one, it's serious!
https://t.co/ikOrTvQIJs
pic.twitter.com/bOTmL5Fh2H
— chompie (@chompie1337)
December 13, 2022
FortiOS RCE
And rounding out the hair-on-fire section of the news,
a pre-auth RCE in FortiOS is being actively exploited
to compromise Fortinet devices. The update has been out for a month, but wasn’t marked as a security fix, so rollout has been a bit slow. It’s a buffer overflow in the SSL-VPN service, and appears to exist all the way back to the 5.x release series. As the older 5.x and 6.0.x firmwares are beyond support, so may not receive updates fixing this one. Disabling the Internet-facing VPN appears to be a valid workaround to the issue.
AI “Improves” Security
The new hotness in machine learning is OpenAI’s chat bot, which has been full of surprises. [Rick Osgood] does Red Team penetration testing, and
just had to try out using the tool for simulated evil
. He asked it to generate a phishing email, promising a gift card for filling out a survey. And the results were depressingly good. So good in fact, that [Osgood] had to tell the AI to make the email seem just a little shady, with hilarious results.
SVG Smuggling
Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) is bit of an odd duck. It’s an image format, particularly useful because the resulting images are infinitely scalable. It’s also a markup language based on XML, and all sorts of interesting bits of data can be included.
That apparently includes HTML and JavaScript code
, and that code can be Base64 encoded. And this makes for a useful way to sneak malicious code past a security solution. For even more creative mayhem, once the JavaScript code starts running, it can even be used to build an executable file in memory, and download it to the local machine. Sneaky. | 16 | 4 | [
{
"comment_id": "6551709",
"author": "Chris Muncy",
"timestamp": "2022-12-16T15:50:26",
"content": "As a long time member of InfraGard, I was very intrigued by this hack, and can confirm everything that Brian found out. THis is one of those things where you would never think of that as an attack vec... | 1,760,372,462.684388 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2022/12/16/mazda-patents-spinning-dorito-to-extend-ev-range/ | Mazda Patents Spinning Dorito To Extend EV Range | Al Williams | [
"car hacks"
] | [
"ev",
"Wankel"
] | OK, so a Wankel engine doesn’t really use a Dorito as its cylinders, but it sure looks like one. The company has announced it will offer a range extender rotary engine for the MX-30 electric “crossover” vehicle, but [CarBuzz]
dug into the patent papers
to find out that it has some interesting twists.
The MX-30 is an EV with a relatively small 35.5 kWh battery. Like a hybrid vehicle, the car includes a small internal combustion engine that can charge the battery. It does not, however, directly drive the wheels at any time. The Wankel has several improvements, including a secondary port that allows more air into the combustion chamber when the engine has to produce high power. But there’s a problem…
The secondary port is great when you are pushing hard, but at low speed, it produces inefficiency. To combat that, Mazda includes a valve to seal off the second port when it doesn’t make sense to open it. But that’s not the strange part. The strange part is that the engine also has its own electric assist motor that runs off the main battery. That’s right. The battery you are charging provides some energy to operate the electric assist motor to help the engine that is charging the battery. If that makes your head spin like the Wankel’s rotor, you aren’t alone.
The assist motor can assist or retard the output shaft during the intake stroke. This can optimize the intake to the combustion chamber. Of course, this will cause odd movement in the engine’s output, but since it doesn’t drive the car, who cares? The battery isn’t going to mind if the output isn’t smooth.
The Wankel shows up in a lot of odd places. We’ve seen
Wankel air compressors
. Despite
detractors
, there have been many improvements in the design over the years. | 44 | 14 | [
{
"comment_id": "6551608",
"author": "Bob",
"timestamp": "2022-12-16T12:12:01",
"content": "Awesome. I love dorito powered engines. They are so much fun. I know Mazda can’t produce a new cars like the RX7/8 but seeing it used again, even in a situation like this, just makes me smile.I really can’t w... | 1,760,372,462.907991 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2022/12/16/two-thirds-keyboard-is-inspired-by-the-typesetting-era/ | Two-Thirds Keyboard Is Inspired By The Typesetting Era | Lewin Day | [
"Peripherals Hacks"
] | [
"keyboard",
"type",
"typeset",
"typesetting"
] | We see all kinds of custom keyboard builds around here. Most of them are intended to optimize typing to the user’s desires. This glorious build from [Attoparsec] isn’t one of those, and is instead part of the growing joke keyboard genre.
The so-called Two-Thirds Keyboard is inspired by the long-gone typesetting era.
The build is based on the typecases used in the era when type was assembled by hand. Typesetters would grab “majuscule” letters from the upper case of type, and “miniscule” letters from the lower case of type, when setting a page, which would go on to influence how we refer to those letters today. Letters that came up more often, like e and s, would get larger compartments in the type cases, while rarer letters like z and q would get smaller compartments. The Two-Thirds keyboard replicates this by giving the most common letters the biggest keys, while rarer letters and
upper-case
majuscule letters get smaller keys. The overall layout matches that of the popular Two-Thirds California Case of type that grew popular in the US in the typesetting era.
There were some engineering issues in building the keyboard. While stabilizers are available for wide keys like Enter and Space in regular keyboard designs, stabilizing keys that are wide and high is fussy. The build relies on multiple switches to enable them to move cleanly. Nor were 2×2 and 2×3-sized custom keycaps readily available. In the end, resin printing was key to producing all the necessary components.
Typing on the keyboard is not quick, but lower speeds were probably acceptable in the typesetting era. Regardless, [Attoparsec] used it for a full week to do it justice, going from around 10 wpm to 22 wpm by the end of the test.
It’s a fun build,
but by no means the slowest keyboard we’ve ever seen.
Thanks to [Smellsofbikes] for the tip! | 18 | 10 | [
{
"comment_id": "6551550",
"author": "stoneburner",
"timestamp": "2022-12-16T09:05:14",
"content": "reminds me of the keyboard from a linotype machine:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linotype_machine#/media/File:Linotype_keyboard_with_Star_Quadder_attachment.jpg",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1... | 1,760,372,462.827993 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2022/12/15/a-kids-toy-guitar-turned-into-an-electric-ukulele/ | A Kid’s Toy Guitar Turned Into An Electric Ukulele | Dave Walker | [
"Musical Hacks"
] | [
"electric guitar",
"headphones",
"Pickups",
"toy guitar",
"ukulele"
] | With the holiday season fast approaching, there’s a good chance that some well-meaning friend or relative might buy a toy musical instrument for your children, safe in the knowledge that they’ll never have to listen to the results! The sound from these cheap toy guitars is pretty terrible, partly because they’re just too small to tune to a pleasing guitar tuning, so
[joekutz] decided to see if one could be turned into an electric ukulele
instead.
The first modification on the list was to reduce the string count from six to four, by notching out new positions on the nut and drilling the corresponding fixings on the bridge. One advantage of these cheap instruments is that it’s less of a risk to take tools to the bodywork!
Following the conversion and re-tuning to make it into a ukulele, the next step was to engineer some pickups. [joekutz] had a pair of children’s headphones in his parts bin and, along with some 3D printed parts, wooden dowels, paper cones and glue, managed to mount them inside the body to measure the differential vibrations between the front and rear faces of the instrument.
The output signal is around 80mV peak-to-peak, which is large enough to connect to a standard guitar amplifier and produce a pleasant acoustic sound… but who wants pleasant with an electric instrument? For full grunge distortion, a UTC2025H stereo pre-amplifier was added to the ukulele as a crude overdrive option.
Finally, to reduce some of the screechiest overtones, the uke was down-tuned and the conversion was complete.
We think that this would be an excellent way to introduce your kids to hardware hacking over the Winter break, and explain some of the principles of sound-making along the way. Who knows, maybe they’ll be asking you to help them make a
real electric guitar from an antique fireplace
next year? | 8 | 3 | [
{
"comment_id": "6551616",
"author": "Hank Castello",
"timestamp": "2022-12-16T12:51:32",
"content": "A simpler modification, and arguably with better results, would be to change strings and tune in open tuning. That way, if the child merely strums all the strings – it sounds good. If they fret ac... | 1,760,372,462.777529 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2022/12/15/retrotechtacular-a-1960s-look-at-the-21st-century-home/ | Retrotechtacular: A 1960s Look At The 21st Century Home | Dan Maloney | [
"Retrotechtacular"
] | [
"futurism",
"home of tomorrow",
"retrotechtacular",
"robots",
"teletype",
"Walter Cronkite"
] | If you only watch the first 60 seconds of
1967’s “At Home, 2001,”
you’ll be forgiven for thinking that the film is riddled with missed predictions. And to be sure, the cold open is rife with them, from disposable paper furniture to seashell-shaped houses that look like they’re extruded from concrete. Really, the only clear winner from that first tranche of predictions is the rise of the microwave oven, which given the expense of magnetrons in 1967 and the complexity of the electronics needed to drive them was a non-obvious development.
But pushing beyond that opening to the meat of this film reveals a fair number of domestic trends that actually did manage to come true, at least partially, and if not by 2001 then shortly thereafter. The film is an educational piece hosted by iconic American newsman Walter Cronkite, who lends his gravitas to the proceedings. The film opens with “Uncle Walter” sonorously pontificating on the unsustainability of the “ticky tacky” spawl of the suburbs and how the situation simply must change.
Cronkite wasn’t wrong about that need, but his skepticism that we would somehow transition to apartments like “enormous brick beehives” and somehow be happy about it was well placed. Almost 60 years after that initial 30-year projection, things haven’t changed all that much, despite the wishes and efforts of various architects and designers interviewed for the film. None of their visions have come to pass in any serious way, although the “Habitat 67” project, which Moshe Safdie designed for the 1967 World’s Fair in Montreal, kind of resembles recent attempts to build trendy, high-density urban housing using old shipping containers.
If the macro trends for the next 35 years were a bit off, the predictions for the specifics of domestic life in 2001 were a similarly mixed bag. Flat-screen TVs, enormous by 1960s standards, were an easy win, although they weren’t quite commonplace yet in 2001. And they got the 3D TV thing right, but only for about a year before the fad died a merciful death. Misses thankfully include inflatable and disposable furniture; sadly, the prediction of 30-hour workweeks and month-long vacations was another big swing and a miss.
The projection of 1960s technology three decades into the future seems pretty quaint, but with the Apollo program spaceflights very much in the zeitgeist at the time, the home control console that looks like it came from mission control is understandable. And the hilariously unconvincing mock-ups of the computers of the future where the man of the house would get his work done are worth a chuckle too. The automation of the home kitchen is pretty far off the mark, too; custom molded plates for each meal? Why?
What would be really interesting, though, would be to follow up with the Crawshaw family of Phoenix, Arizona. They were extremely early adopters of home computing, suffering as they did the presence of a Model 33 teletype in the kitchen for father Charles’ electrical engineering gig and mother Barbara’s domestic automation needs. We’d love to see what became of the Crawshaw girls, the eldest pushing 70 by now, thanks to their early exposure to a computer in the home.
And, of course, robots — or “robits,” according to Cronkite — were just around the corner, ready to do our domestic bidding. Think your Roomba is noisy? Wait till you get a load of what Professor M.W. Thring had in mind for the domestic robots of 2001. There’s one thing he got right, though: the lack of justification for anthropomorphized robots. Elon, are you listening?
What strikes us the most about “At Home, 2001” is just how little things have really changed since the film was made. 2001 is nearly as far in our rear-view mirror today as it was down the road in 1967, and the actual living situations of today bear far more resemblance to what our 1960s counterparts experienced than almost anything presented in the film. The real changes between 1967 and 2001 — cell phones, the ubiquity of personal computing, and the Internet — would have taken a true visionary to predict.
Thanks to [my wife] for the tip. | 29 | 17 | [
{
"comment_id": "6551457",
"author": "Michael Black",
"timestamp": "2022-12-16T03:18:40",
"content": "International Crystal Manufacturing had a microwave in the late sixties. Heathkit had a kit, can’t remember when it was introduced.And watching Truth or Consequences with Bob Barker, Amana Radar Ran... | 1,760,372,462.973184 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2022/12/15/building-a-chain-drive-differential-from-junkyard-parts/ | Building A Chain Drive Differential From Junkyard Parts | Lewin Day | [
"car hacks"
] | [
"bmw",
"differential"
] | A differential is a very useful thing for a vehicle. It allows two driven wheels to rotate at different speeds, such as when going around a corner. [Workshop From Scratch] needed a chain driven differential,
so set about building one from a salvaged automotive unit.
The differential itself was taken from a BMW E46 3-Series, specifically a 2.0-liter diesel model. The work began by removing the differential’s center gears from its big, hefty iron housing. Disassembly then ensued, with the spider gears removed from their carrier and the other components discarded. The differential gears themselves were installed instead in a new compact housing, fabricated with much welding and lathery. The housing was fitted with a large chain sprocket to deliver drive, in place of the original differential’s ring gear and pinion.
The video’s description states it would be an ideal differential for a go-kart, buggy, or other such small vehicle. Given the differential gears were originally built to handle a full-sized car, they should be more than capable of dealing with such applications.
If you’re a little unfamiliar with how differentials work,
check out this primer from the early 20th century
. It’s widely considered to be the best education on the topic. Video after the break. | 26 | 4 | [
{
"comment_id": "6551383",
"author": "Ren",
"timestamp": "2022-12-16T00:17:34",
"content": "Great idea! Ever since I bought a homemade quadracycle, I wondered how to incorporate a differential for its straight through rear axle.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
... | 1,760,372,463.03382 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2022/12/15/top-up-your-teapot-in-time-with-this-e-ink-tea-timer/ | Top Up Your Teapot In Time With This E-ink Tea Timer | Robin Kearey | [
"cooking hacks"
] | [
"e-ink display",
"tea timer",
"teapot"
] | Whether you’re a tea aficionado or just a casual drinker, it’s important to pay attention to your brewing times: too short and you’re just drinking hot water, too long and your brew becomes bitter and astringent. [Bob] wanted to help his parents avoid the latter scenario, and made them
a convenient little tea timer
that displays the time when they last replenished the pot.
Operating the timer couldn’t be easier: just press down on the teapot’s lid and it will store the current time on its e-ink display. Inside is a Pimoroni Badger 2040 with a real-time clock daughter board, powered by a set of AAA batteries. The Badger is an RP2040-powered board with an integrated e-ink display that’s perfect for this use case: the display needs to be updated only once when the button is pressed, and doesn’t use any power after that.
Naturally, the tea timer is encased in a teapot-shaped enclosure. It has a clever mechanism inside that pushes one of the Badger’s buttons when you press down on the lid, and also provides the satisfying click that you hear in the video embedded below. It took more than thirteen hours to print on [Bob]’s Creality Ender 3, but the end result definitely looks the part.
Functionally, this tea timer is about as simple as it gets: most other designs focus on the initial brewing process, and include features to
alert you when your tea is ready
.
https://user-images.githubusercontent.com/36078310/204371686-4acd3513-15dd-44d8-b518-5f3c4c7c4d70.mp4 | 15 | 5 | [
{
"comment_id": "6551328",
"author": "Mike",
"timestamp": "2022-12-15T22:06:57",
"content": "I’ve been wanting to make something just like this, but for hand towels around the house (to know when they were last replaced with a clean one). Great project!",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"... | 1,760,372,463.085331 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2022/12/15/3d-printed-gadgets-make-lab-work-easier/ | 3D Printed Gadgets Make Lab Work Easier | Lewin Day | [
"Tool Hacks"
] | [
"lab",
"lab equipment",
"laboratory",
"labware"
] | If you’ve worked in a bio or chem lab, you’ve probably found yourself handling all manner of plastic. Test tubes, fixtures, clamps — there’s a cavalcade of this stuff that fattens up the order books of lab suppliers every quarter. Sometimes, though, the commercial solutions aren’t quite what you need. For [AtomicVirology],
the solution was to 3D print custom lab accessories to make work easier.
The tube adapter allows the collection of 60 small samples without having to unload the fraction collector halfway through. That’s a big quality-of-life improvement for staffers using the equipment.
Some of the devices are straightforward, like simple holders for upright storage of centrifuge tubes. Others are fun twists on the theme, like the
Millennium Falcon
tube holder or one shaped like the Imperial Star Destroyer. Meanwhile, a resuable plastic tube cover serves as a way to protect tubes from light without the fuss of covering them in aluminium foil. It’s less wasteful, too!
Our favorite, though, is
a simple adapter for holding fraction tubes in a AKTA fraction collection device
. Stock, the AKTA device will hold 30 small tubes in the inside ring, and 30 larger tubes in the outside ring. Thanks to a simple printed part, though, it can be modified to hold 60 tubes of the smaller size. This allows the collection of 60 small fractions in a shorter period of time simply by moving the delivery head from the inner to the outer ring, without having to swap out 30 tubes halfway through a chromatography column, for example.
It goes to show that a 3D printer is good for more than just churning out Pikachus. It’s a Swiss Army knife for solving fiddly little problems without having to rely on some company to injection-mold you 10,000 examples of whatever it is you want. Of course, if you do want to injection mold something,
we’ve covered how to do that before, as well. | 1 | 1 | [
{
"comment_id": "6554968",
"author": "Jeremy",
"timestamp": "2022-12-21T04:29:14",
"content": "The ability to design pretty much anything you can think of is why I love 3D printing so much. The custom applications are endless. You can improve so many processes easily and inexpensively. As a 3rd year... | 1,760,372,463.259245 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2022/12/15/supercon-2022-sam-mulvey-shows-you-how-to-fm-radio/ | Supercon 2022: Sam Mulvey Shows You How To FM Radio | Elliot Williams | [
"cons",
"Hackaday Columns",
"Slider"
] | [
"2022 Superconference",
"diy",
"fm",
"radio"
] | Sam Mulvey built his own radio station in Tacoma, WA. Is there a better way to meld ham radio practice with a colossal number of DIY electrical and computer projects? Sam would say there isn’t one!
This 45-minute talk
is basically the lessons-learned review of setting up KTQA 95.3 – the radio station on the hill.
Sam starts out the talk by introducing you to LPFM. And maybe you didn’t know that there’s a special type of license issued by the US FCC allowing non-profit community radio stations up to 100 W, covering an radius of around 5 km. It’s like running a pirate radio station, but by jumping through a few legal hoops, made legal.
Trash on the Radio
Putting a radio station together on a budget requires a ton of clever choices, flexibility, and above all, luck. But if you’re willing to repair a busted CD player or turntable, scrounge up some used computers, and work on your own amplifiers, the budget doesn’t have to be the limiting factor.
Being cheap means a
lot
of DIY. For instance, Sam and friends made a custom console to support all the gear and hide all the wiring. Some hot tips from the physical build-out: painted cinderblocks make great studio monitor stands, and Cat-5 can carry two channels of balanced audio along with power, with sufficient isolation that it all sounds clean.
But not everything in the KTQA studio is cheap. Sam spends the money when it counts, and first splurge was quality microphones. And thanks to the rise of podcasting and streaming, items that used to be clear DIY choices like microphone stands and sound dampening material are now into Sam’s buy-vs-build category.
Open Source on the Airwaves
Sam then goes through all of the software that runs the station. Perhaps not apparent to those outside the scene, the Linux audio ecology has grown up enough that it can meet the needs of the professional studio. All the usual suspects are here, from Jack to Audacity and ffmpeg. Using an open production toolchain allows Sam to write some of his own tools too, and that includes a studio automation tool, VU meters over websockets, and a dead-air detector.
SDR tools are in abundance for monitoring their local output for making sure they’re not overmodulating or stomping on other nearby signals. But Sam is also planning to do a live comparison of their coverage when running in stereo vs mono by “FM Wardriving” around Tacoma to see which comes in best.
Finally, Sam talks about future projects – hooking the entire studio management up to MQTT to make wireless “On the Air” lights and coordinate other services, and playing around with the RDSS radio data service, because when you have your own radio station, why not?
A Dream Fulfilled
Sam has always wanted to be on the air, and is a hacker at heart. The community radio scene enables him to do it all. It looks like tremendously fertile ground for all sorts of fun and mayhem. And an FCC window for LPFM licensing is coming up soon, so if you’re at all interested in getting your junk on the air,
look around for a local LPFM station
and volunteer, and if you haven’t got one, you might just have to make one. Start now! | 19 | 6 | [
{
"comment_id": "6551233",
"author": "Shirley Marquez",
"timestamp": "2022-12-15T18:43:56",
"content": "The basic flaw of LPFM is that the places with enough population density to support a station rarely have any channels available. Here in Boston, the one time recently that a channel became availa... | 1,760,372,463.318457 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2022/12/15/sonos-speakers-free-to-sing-again/ | Sonos Speakers Free To Sing Again | Chris Lott | [
"digital audio hacks",
"Teardown"
] | [
"bluetooth speaker",
"dumpster diving",
"recycling",
"sonos"
] | Over at the EEVBlog,
[Dave Jones] takes a second look at the Sonos Play 5 Gen 1
that he rescued from the dumpster recently. Despite being solidly built, [Dave] discovered that even the stereo line-in jack can’t be used without registering an account with Sonos. Not to be defeated, he hacks these speakers to make them work standalone.
Bluetooth Audio Amplifier Module (Fosi Audio)
The hack here involves fitting the speaker cabinet with new “guts” in the form of a wireless stereo 2×50 watt digital amplifier [Dave] found online for under $30. This particular model, the Fosi TB21, is almost a perfect fit for the Sonos cabinet — with only minimal Dremel tool encouragement required. It turned out the power supply section of the Sonos main board was easy to isolate. [Dave] couldn’t use the existing amplifiers, so he removed them from their power supply and re-routed the power supply to the Fosi module. He also removed the Sonos wireless interface board from the cabinet, and used an
online design tool
to make a simple first order Butterworth crossover network set to 2800 Hz to connect the speakers.
The new amplifier board is mounted in the shallow base of the speaker cabinet. It could have easily been oriented either way, but [Dave] chose to install it knobs-forward. This also gave him a reason to toss out the Sonos badge. The resulting modified unit looks very professional, and works well as a Bluetooth speaker for the lab.
We wrote about
the opposite conversion last year
, where old speakers from the 1960s were hacked to add Sonos capability. You can read about
the controversy surrounding Sonos here
, and we discussed the issue on the
Hackaday Podcast in episode 058
. | 69 | 17 | [
{
"comment_id": "6551157",
"author": "Ben",
"timestamp": "2022-12-15T16:39:18",
"content": "Wonder how these sound without the Sonos DSP. I imagine theres a huge amount of heavy lifting done in software.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "6552041... | 1,760,372,463.657461 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2022/12/13/after-40-years-adobe-releases-postscript-source-v0-10-for-posterity/ | After 40 Years, Adobe Releases PostScript Source V0.10 For Posterity | Elliot Williams | [
"Software Development"
] | [
"adobe",
"Computer History Muesum",
"postscript"
] | Celebrating their 40th anniversary,
Adobe released the source code of PostScript v0.10 to the Computer History Museum
. But before you ask, we tried and it won’t compile with GCC out of the box – it’s missing at least
except.h
, but we’d bet you can hack around it with a little dedication.
PostScript is the precursor to PDF, and at the time it was revolutionary. Coming out of Xerox’s PARC, the idea was to create device- and resolution-independent documents where all the characters, symbols, and graphics are described by their shapes instead of bitmaps. PostScript’s secret sauce was in how it went back to a pixel-based representation for end use on monitors or printers. It’s no exaggeration to say that this ended up revolutionizing the print industry, and it makes sense in the CHM’s collection.
Still, on the trade-secret front, you shouldn’t get too excited. Apparently the code released here only includes a first-draft version of Adobe’s font hinting algos, as evidenced by the early version number. Nonetheless, you’re free to dig into pretty readable C. For instance,
vm.c
contains the virtual machine that implements PostScript’s almost Forth-like language.
Of course, if you’d just like to mess around with PostScript, downloading a modern open-source interpreter like
GhostScript
probably makes a lot more sense. Even so, it’s fun to see the original codebase where it all started. | 28 | 15 | [
{
"comment_id": "6550179",
"author": "Darren",
"timestamp": "2022-12-14T03:23:19",
"content": "A bit surprised it wasn’t written in flash.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "6550222",
"author": "Naxes",
"timestamp": "2022-12-14T05... | 1,760,372,463.382504 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2022/12/13/vhs-decode-project-could-help-archival-efforts/ | VHS-Decode Project Could Help Archival Efforts | Lewin Day | [
"Software Hacks",
"Video Hacks"
] | [
"archival",
"archive",
"VHS",
"vhs-decode",
"video"
] | Archiving data from old storage media can be a highly complex process. It can be as simple as putting a disk in an old drive and reading out the contents. These days, though, the state of the art is more complex, with advanced techniques helping to recover the most data possible.
The VHS-Decode project is an effort to improve the archiving of old analog video tapes.
The project is a fork of the LaserDisc-focused
ld-decode
, started by [Chad Page] back in 2013, which readers may recall was used for the Domesday Duplicator — a device aimed to
recover data from the BBC’s ancient Domesday LaserDiscs
. VHS-Decode is designed to capture the raw RF signals straight out of a tape head, which are the most direct representation of the signals on the physical media. From there, these signals can be processed in various ways to best recover the original audio and video tracks. It’s much the same technique as is used by floppy disk recovery tools like
the FluxEngine
.
Despite the VHS name, the code currently works with several tape formats. VHS, S-VHS and U-Matic are supported in PAL and NTSC formats, while Betamax, Video8 and High8 tape capture remains a work in progress. Using the code requires a video tape player with test points or traces that make signals from the head accessible. Capturing those signals is achieved via a Domesday Duplicator hardware device, or alternatively a Conexant CX2388x analog-to-digital converter, often found in many old PCI TV tuner cards. Various techniques can then be used to turn the captured signals into watchable video files.
We love a good archival project, and VHS-Decode is clearly a useful tool when it comes to salvaging old video tapes.
[Thanks to JohnU for the tip!] | 47 | 11 | [
{
"comment_id": "6550089",
"author": "The Commenter Formerly Known As Ren",
"timestamp": "2022-12-14T00:08:12",
"content": "“Domesday Duplicator”As if one won’t be enough.B^)",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "6550095",
"author": "ashaw",... | 1,760,372,463.548302 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2022/12/13/building-a-lamp-to-help-with-seasonal-depression/ | Building A Lamp To Help With Seasonal Depression | Lewin Day | [
"LED Hacks"
] | [
"Adafruit Feather",
"circadian lighting",
"lamp",
"weather api"
] | The sun plays a big biological role in our lives, regulating our circadian rhythms and doing a whole bunch more as well. Some people find the reduced sunlight of the winter months to have negative emotional effects, and rely on artificial lighting to counteract this.
[Samasrinivas] built a lamp of their own design for this very purpose.
The lamp is constructed around an abstract sculptural form made in air-dry clay. Light is provided via a string of Neopixel RGBW LEDs. Run by an Adafruit Feather Huzzah, they’re programmed to trigger with the sunrise to provide a bright light in the morning on grey days when the outside world isn’t quite delivering the same. The Adafruit queries an online weather API to get the right sunrise time every day without requiring user intervention. The lamp can also be programmed to provide warm light during later hours.
We’ve featured a few circadian lighting projects before,
including one that goes for a whole-of-house effect with smart bulbs.
For some, they’re a valuable way to help boost mood and maintain consistent sleep cycles. | 13 | 9 | [
{
"comment_id": "6549982",
"author": "TG",
"timestamp": "2022-12-13T21:17:55",
"content": "This reminds me—I gotta clean out my fridge.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "6550009",
"author": "Emil",
"timestamp": "2022-12-13T21:59:26",
"... | 1,760,372,463.70915 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2022/12/13/push-esp32-over-the-air-updates-from-github/ | Push ESP32 Over The Air Updates From GitHub | Matthew Carlson | [
"Microcontrollers",
"Software Development"
] | [
"ESP32",
"github",
"Github Actions",
"OTA"
] | Let’s say you’re working on an ESP32 project to send off to your grandma; something she can just plug in and it will start automatically monitoring her plant’s water levels. But you discover a critical flaw in the firmware and need to update it. Does she send it back? Do you walk her through dropping the update via the Arduino IDE OTA? The easiest way would be to plan and use something like
esp_ghota, an OTA framework
by [Justin Hammond].
OTA (Over-The-Air) updates are a fantastic feature of the ESP32, and we’ve
covered libraries that make it easy.
But compared to those earlier projects, esp_ghota takes a different approach. Rather than hosting a web server where someone can drop a binary, it looks at GitHub releases. [Justin] had to include a streaming JSON parser, as GitHub API responses tend to be beefy. The workflow is straightforward, push a new commit to your main branch on GitHub, and the action will trigger, building a few different versions. Your little plant watering reminder at your grandma’s will check every so often to see if a new version has been pushed and can update with rollback on littlefs, fatfs, and spiffs filesystems.
It’s an incredible project that we suspect will be very useful for many folks to update their projects. [Justin] even includes an example GitHub action and a sample ESP32 project. | 21 | 11 | [
{
"comment_id": "6549955",
"author": "Anton",
"timestamp": "2022-12-13T20:46:02",
"content": "Yes, the esp is so small – a bricked device is not even good as a paperwight",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "6550303",
"author": "Clayton Ros... | 1,760,372,463.764859 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2022/12/13/hyundai-to-lead-us-market-for-hydrogen-fuel-cell-trucks/ | Hyundai To Lead US Market For Hydrogen Fuel Cell Trucks | Lewin Day | [
"Hackaday Columns",
"Slider",
"Transportation Hacks"
] | [
"fuel cell",
"fuel cells",
"hydrogen",
"hydrogen fuel cells",
"hyundai",
"semi truck",
"tractor",
"truck",
"trucking",
"trucks"
] | Hydrogen has long been touted as a potential fuel of the future. While it’s failed to catch on in cars as batteries have taken a strong lead, it still holds great promise for larger vehicles like trucks.
Hyundai have been working diligently in this space over the last few years, with its Xcient line of fuel-cell powered trucks. It’s set to dominate the world of hydrogen trucking in the US
as it brings a fleet of vehicles to California next year.
California, Here We Come
Batteries have only just become small and light enough to suit electric cars. They don’t quite scale up for trucking applications just yet, but hydrogen may offer a compelling alternative.
Credit: Hyundai
Two separate projects will see Hyundai bring 35 trucks in total to California in 2023. 30 examples will go to work in the NorCal Zero project, to be operated by logistics company Glovis America. They will be put into service at the Port of Oakland. A further five examples will be put to work by First Element Fuel (FEF), currently the largest hydrogen refuelling operator in the United States. In this role, Hyundai’s trucks will be used to distribute liquified hydrogen fuel to the company’s network of refuelling stations. The trucks will operate in a demonstration role for the first year, with reports made to the EPA, with four years of commercial operations to follow.
Hyundai already has plenty of experience building hydrogen-powered tractor units for semi-trailers. The company has run a fleet of 47 trucks in Switzerland
since 2020.
Over the last two years, that fleet has racked up a total of over five million miles of driving, with the trucks hauling loads in general logistics, manufacturing, and retail fulfilment. The initial fleet of XCIENT Fuel Cell 6×4 tractor units featured a pair of fuel cells putting out 90 kW each, for a total of 180 kW output. The fuel cells are combined with a 72 kWh battery, which is of roughly the same size you’d find in one of Hyundai’s electric SUVs. The battery helps provide extra power for the drivetrain where needed, with the XCIENT featuring a motor that can deliver 350 kW and a mighty 2,237 Nm of torque. The first generation of trucks had a range of approximately 400 km (280 miles) when filled with 31 kg of hydrogen, and could be refuelled in roughly 8-20 minutes, depending on the ambient temperature.
Hyundai’s fleet of 47 fuel-cell trucks have become a common sight in Switzerland, having racked up 5 million kilometres in just two years.
Credit: Hyundai
For the big push into California, though, Hyundai has made upgrades to give the XCIENT trucks longer range. The fuel cells and motor remain the same, but the hydrogen tanks have been upgraded to hold up to 67 kg of fuel. This should provide the trucks with range on the order of 724 km (450 miles) per fill. The Class 8 trucks will have a gross combined weight of 37,200 kg, though Hyundai has not specified the exact payload figures.
Why Hydrogen, Though?
Electric cars have trounced fuel-cell vehicles over the last few years. Millions of battery-electric cars are now being sold every year. When it comes to the big side of town, though, electric drive hasn’t yet penetrated the trucking market. Strides are being made, but the problem remains one of scale. Engineers have been able to eke out the desired range figures for modern electric cars by relying on gigantic, heavy batteries. When it comes to trucks, the size of batteries required becomes punishingly large, often cutting into the payload weight the truck is being built to haul in the first place. Then there’s the problem of actually flowing enough energy to recharge such a huge battery in a reasonable amount of time.
Hyundai’s competition will be from battery-electric trucks like the Tesla Semi. Tesla’s current claim to fame is a recent 500-mile test run hauling a full payload, but Hyundai’s trucks have been racking up millions of miles in testing for the last two years.
Credit: Tesla
In this area, hydrogen fuel cells hold promise. A great deal of energy can be stored in a relatively-light amount of hydrogen. Plus, refuelling can be done relatively quickly. Pumping more hydrogen simply takes a bit longer. It doesn’t scale as badly as recharging a large battery, where higher power delivery is required, along with large uprated cables and connectors. While storage and refuelling of hydrogen was once a difficult proposition, the last decade has seen companies like Toyota and Hyundai invest in maturing the technology.
The fast refuelling time is really the key to hydrogen’s potential in the trucking world. There isn’t an electric vehicle on Earth that can add 727 kilometers of range in under an hour. Even if there was, it would likely require cabling and connectors rated for a megawatt or more. However, with hydrogen, Hyundai can offer quick refuelling and long range while keeping emissions clean and green.
The other issue is weight. Semis can carry whatever they want up to the aforementioned gross 37,200 kg for Class 8 trucks. Weight carried in batteries directly competes with cargo, and while Tesla still hasn’t released any weight data, it’s likely that
battery weight alone is in the 10,000 kg – 15,000 kg range
. Compared with a fuel load of 67 kg of hydrogen, even if there is significant weight reduction in the cab and the motors, that hits haulers in the bottom line.
Hydrogen may yet be the ideal solution for cleaning up the heavy truck fleets of the world. That may be via fuel cell trucks, or perhaps via
hydrogen-burning combustion engines
which aren’t quite as clean. Challenges remain around the production of hydrogen from clean sources, though
they’re not insurmountable.
As for the lack of refuelling stations, it’s not as big a deal for commercial operators, which are often in the habit of refuelling from specific depots already.
Hyundai has big plans for hydrogen trucks in the future, too. The XCIENT trucks are designed for mass production, and the company hopes to have as many as 1600 in service in Europe by 2025. Big numbers could also end up coming to the US if the company’s upcoming California trials go well and catch the right attention. | 96 | 19 | [
{
"comment_id": "6549877",
"author": "The Commenter Formerly Known As Ren",
"timestamp": "2022-12-13T18:52:54",
"content": "I’ve recently thrown out dozen of pop-science books for children; those books were from early 1990s. Back then hydrogen cars were also called the future and would replace regul... | 1,760,372,463.950678 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2022/12/13/this-gun-should-be-banned-during-the-month-of-december/ | This Gun Should Be Banned During The Month Of December | Jenny List | [
"Holiday Hacks"
] | [
"Last Christmas",
"Wham!",
"Whamageddon"
] | Do you play Whamageddon? It’s a pastime for the month of December, something like the Game, in which you lose when you are exposed to the 1984
Wham!
Christmas classic,
Last Christmas
. Such is the pervasive nature of Christmas music at this time of year, it’s extremely difficult not to encounter a bit of unexpected Wham! during the month. At Tkkrlab hackerspace in the Netherlands, they evidently take their Whamageddon seriously. Seriously enough it seems, to weaponise it, because
one of their members has created a Wham! gun
.
Starting with a compressed-air kit gun (we think that’s a sealant cartridge gun, for Anglophones) because of its comedy plastic-firearm-like appearance, they’ve put in an AliExpress audio sample player module and a speaker. Add a suitably hazard-warning paint job, and Wham! Any unwary visitor might be ambushed and lose their Whamageddon game before they can even pop the cap on a refreshing bottle of Club-Mate.
It’s all a bit of seasonal fun, but deadly serious if the dulcet tones of George Michael are anathema to you. Don’t get mad, get equal, never visit a Dutch hackerspace in December without first
fixing your noise cancelling headphones
. | 10 | 6 | [
{
"comment_id": "6549807",
"author": "Unaccounted4",
"timestamp": "2022-12-13T16:34:53",
"content": "I have lost The Game.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "6549987",
"author": "TG",
"timestamp": "2022-12-13T21:21:00",
"c... | 1,760,372,463.812738 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2022/12/13/usb-c-cable-types/ | All About USB-C: Cable Types | Arya Voronova | [
"Featured",
"Interest",
"Skills",
"Slider"
] | [
"cables",
"confusion",
"USB C"
] | USB-C cables and connectors: these are controversial topics, and rightfully so – I don’t want to pull any punches. I will also show you that things don’t have to be that bad for you, as long as you’re willing to apply a few tricks and adjust your expectations.
Wild West of Wiring
You might have a bunch of USB-C cables, and they all might look exactly the same, but you’ve likely experienced that they’re not the same internally, and often there’s not a label in sight. Yes, it’s pretty bad, and one could argue it’s getting worse.
I’d like to clarify that I’m only talking about USB C male – USB C male cables here. While cables like USB-A to USB-C are popular, they are quite simple; you get USB 2.0 or USB 3.0 data and 2 A of current at most, and the USB-C plug is usually hardwired as “host, will supply five volts”, which is defined by a pullup resistor. Also, while cables like “Type-C to DisplayPort” might look like cables at a glance, they are adapters with
a meaningful amount of active circuitry in them
.
Purely following the specification, there
used to be six types of USB-C to USB-C cables
out there. Then,
it became eight.
Now, I’m afraid, there’s twelve of them, purely following the spec, and there’s way more when counting all the out-of-spec cables. Good news is – for most of the time, majority of these cables will be suitable for simple tasks like charging and data transfer, and situations where you need a very specific cable are going to be rare enough. Still, let’s go through it, and you’ll see that they’re easier to tell apart than it might look.
Sorting Cables Into (Mental) Boxes
For a start, there are two variations of current capability – 3 A and 5 A, with 3 A being the bare minimum for any cable out there, and 5 A support being optional. Of course, as you would guess, the bargain bin cables might be undersized for even 3 A, but most cables will pass 3 A no problem. Last year, USB-C group introduced EPR, raising maximum voltage from 20 V to 48 V, and requiring changes to cables and connectors to increase isolation between power and data pins. That’s two more categories, SPR (20 V max) and EPR (48 V max). However, there are no 3 A EPR cables, so it’s a tiny bit less confusing than it sounds.
Then, there are at least four variations of data transfer speeds. It used to be that you’d have USB 2-only and USB 3-only Type C cables, as well as Thunderbolt-certified cables. Now, there’s a new USB 3 standard which wants higher speeds, and needs higher-specced cables. Plus, there’s active USB-C cables that put the signal through redrivers or fiber optics for achieving long-distance operation. If you thought there might just some cabling variability that introduces additional small permutations inside and outside the specification, you are, unfortunately, correct.
This gives us a three-by-four matrix of “which cable you might have on hand”. Three for 3 A, 5 A, or EPR 5 A, and four for cable speeds. There’s also plenty of blatantly out-of-spec cables out there – like charging-only cables without 2.0 pins, which is blasphemous as per USB specification. Of course, you can indeed buy these by accident, or intentionally. How do you figure out which ones you have? Let’s simplify the situation to the three-by-four case and mostly dismiss the exceptions – over time, the weird cables will become less and less prominent, as even bargain bin manufacturers will learn to keep it together.
The undeniable benefit of having so many cable variations is that you can actually buy a $5 USB-C cable when you only need $5 worth of capabilities, and a $40 cable when you need $40 worth. 2.0-cables are also thinner, lighter and more flexible – you really don’t want to use a Thunderbolt cable when you want to charge your laptop on the go. Plus USB-C has facilities to distinguish between different cables! Let me show you.
Your Cable Has A Computer In It… Almost
When a power supply is capable of providing more than 3 A over a cable, it won’t do that instantly – first, it will check that the cable can handle such a current, and that the device connected is able to accept it.
How does it check cable capability, exactly? By reading the cable’s “emarker”. An emarker is a memory chip inside the cable plug that encodes the cable capabilities and parameters, and taps into the CC channel in order to transmit them. It’s required for anything more than USB 3 speeds or 3A current, and there’s a myriad of parameters that could be encoded into an emarker, including even,
ahem,
country codes.
Would you like to learn more? Here’s a
programmable emarker (VL151) datasheet,
it lists a ton of fun info you will be able to get out of an average emarker!
If you ever feel like it, you can just buy emarkers online and put them inside your cables – here’s
a WLCSP VL151 in stock,
and there’s also currently-
out-of-stock UDFN versions
of the same; you can reflash it over I2C, sadly, only three times. If you want to build your own USB-C cables with 5A support, you can also buy cable plugs with emarkers soldered onto them. One can only hope that we see Doom on USB-C emarkers soon.
Checking The Cables Ourselves
So you can check the cable capabilities by reading the emarker. Linux users might think that this information ought to have been available to you somewhere in
/sys/
, but apparently, there’s not all that much support for it yet –
/sys/class/typec/
is empty on my Framework laptop with 6.0.3 kernel, even with a Type-C monitor plugged in. In the meantime,
there’s USB-C testers that can read emarker information.
Also, as this article series follows, I might just show you how to build an emarker reader yourself!
If an emarker is not present, you can assume USB 2.0 speeds and 3 A current support, but not necessarily much more than that. Apart from current carrying capability of the cable, the emarker can tell you whether the cable contains high-speed pairs, and what kind.
A USB-C cable is supposed to contain either no high-speed pairs, or four of them, in addition to the required USB 2.0 pair, of course. There are legal exceptions – if you have a USB-A to USB-C, USB 3-capable cable, it will contain only two pairs. And a USB-C to HDMI adapter with a hardwired (captive) cable is also likely to only have two pairs. Plus, in practice, I have a cable that came with my USB to M.2 NVMe enclosure that only contains two pairs. It will work for USB 3.0, but it won’t work for DisplayPort or such – it’s not long enough for that, anyway.
Do you want to check for yourself? No need to cut the cable apart, thankfully. We’ve covered USB-C testers aplenty,
here’s just a recent one.
It’s open-source and you can easily assemble it for yourself; otherwise, Tindie and Aliexpress have a whole bunch of ready-made ones. This will not show any differences between a 20 Gbps and 40 Gbps cable, but it will let you distinguish between 2.0- and 3.0-capable cables.
You can also test cables in vivo. If you use a 100 W charger and a 100 W laptop, you can easily check whether your cable is 100 W capable, just by plugging them together through a cheap USB-C power meter and seeing whether power consumption exceeds 3A. Same applies if you have a bunch of cables and you want to know if they do USB3 or beyond – and you also happen to have, say, a M.2 NVMe enclosure with a USB3-capable Type-C female port.
Given that, here’s a quick&dirty test – connect the enclosure to an USB-C-equipped laptop with a cable, then run
lsusb -t
, which will show the connection speed (480 for USB2 cables, and 5000/10000 for USB3-capable cables). As a bonus, you can check if any of your USB3 cables fail the reversibility test too – since, apparently, that’s still a problem.
Compensating For Lack Of Labels – Ourselves
Of course, the manufacturer knows the cable capabilities and exact internal structure when they build it. There are
supposed
to be labels, but there are hardly ever labels on the cables. Sometimes there are labels on the packaging, so, if you haven’t yet thrown it out, you might want to take note of what’s written on there – or revisit the store listing. Say, you have a cable without markings, and you’ve just determined what kind of cable it is. What do you do?
Well, you get the nail polish bottles out, and follow
the proposal of [@_saljam].
It’s
a coloring scheme for marking USB-C cables
after you’ve learned what they’re capable of. One stripe means 3A, two stripes mean 5A. Orange is USB 2.0, blue is USB 3 20 Gbps (Gen 1), green is USB3 40 Gbps (Gen 2), yellow is Thunderbolt. I particularly like how, with this scheme, the Thunderbolt 5A-capable cables look like bees. Also, [_saljam] says this scheme is reasonably color-blindness-friendly!
That said, USB-C started fixing things. They introduced a new labelling scheme that a lot of people laughed at. However, this new logo scheme is quite simple and makes sense. If a cable supports 40 Gbps, it will have the 40 Gbps logo on it. If the cable supports 240 W, it will have the 240 W logo on it. If it supports both, it will have both logos. You might not want to paint over these logos with nail polish, but I trust you to figure something out.
USB-C In Captivity
You might have seen devices, like docks, with short USB-C cables attached to them permanently – as opposed to having a female port on the dock, and using a male-male cable. This is called a “captive cable”. Captive cables actually don’t fall under the same rules, and the circuitry required for them is way simpler, which is why they’re used on cheap stuff so often.
In short, if you want to use high-speed lanes on your device and you build a captive cable into it, you don’t need to add a high-speed multiplexer chip to support two different cable rotations – as then, it’s the responsibility of the host to adapt to the orientation of the captive cable. Plus, since the only possible CC line is hardwired, you only need one 5.1 KΩ resistor instead of two – and you don’t need an emarker, either. If you’re adding a female port with high-speed lanes to your dock, on the other hand, you do however need a multiplexer.
In a penny-pinching arrangement of selling a highly featured USB-C dock on Aliexpress for $15, that just won’t do. As a result, many cheap devices will come with captive cables, which makes things both easier and harder. On the upside, you no longer have to worry about picking the right cable to connect such a device, and it’s more likely to be standards-compliant in a useful way, just because of how simple it is to implement a captive cable. On the downside, you’re limited to the cable that’s soldered into the device, and it breaks, the whole device breaks. Also, you can’t quite extend it. Or can you?
Let’s talk about extensions the next time, as well as other kinds of USB-C cables that might or might not be specification-legal. For now, here’s something to remember – cables are meant to be easy to replace. If a cable is no longer your friend, or it’s being weird – slap a mark of shame onto it, put it somewhere you won’t be tempted to use it, and order a replacement; better yet, a few replacements. Just like with MicroUSB cables, replacing them is the primary way to make most of your cable problems disappear. | 51 | 13 | [
{
"comment_id": "6549762",
"author": "The Commenter Formerly Known As Ren",
"timestamp": "2022-12-13T15:28:58",
"content": "USB was good when it was just HID and bulk transfers. Now it’s like trying to make a bulk freighter out of ski jet and some used condoms (for floatation).",
"parent_id": nu... | 1,760,372,464.047185 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2022/12/14/magnet-clock-makes-field-lines-visible/ | Magnet Clock Makes Field Lines Visible | Robin Kearey | [
"clock hacks"
] | [
"clock",
"magnetic field lines",
"magnetic viewing film"
] | The traditional method for visualizing magnetic fields, which your science teacher probably demonstrated at some point, is to sprinkle some iron filings onto a piece of paper and hold it over a magnet. It’s a bit of a messy process though, and nowadays there’s a more modern method available in the form of magnetic viewing films. These work thanks to tiny nickel particles suspended in an oily medium, and come in very handy if you want to examine, say, the magnetic field pattern of a DC electric motor. [Moritz v. Sivers] had another idea for this magic material however, and used it to make a
Magnet Viewing Clock
.
The clock’s front panel looks very similar to a large monochrome LCD, but is actually a big slab of magnetic viewing film. Four disks are mounted behind it, each carrying number-shaped magnetic stickers that are cleverly hidden from view. An Arduino Uno keeps track of time through a real-time clock and operates four stepper motors that rotate the number wheels. When they move into position, their magnetic stickers become visible through the film and you can read the time.
The clock’s mechanical parts are 3D printed, while the digits were cut from a sheet of sticky magnetic foil using a vinyl cutter. If you’d like to try making something similar you’re in luck: [Moritz] made the design files and the Arduino sketch available on
his GitHub page.
Magnetic viewing films are pretty neat things to play with anyway, and can even be used to read
hidden messages
. | 1 | 1 | [
{
"comment_id": "6550785",
"author": "E. Granger Dyett III",
"timestamp": "2022-12-15T00:12:25",
"content": "Excellent gift, there’s no present like the time.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
}
] | 1,760,372,464.087285 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2022/12/14/self-assembling-virus-model-is-3d-printed/ | Self-Assembling Virus Model Is 3D Printed | Lewin Day | [
"3d Printer hacks"
] | [
"virology",
"virus"
] | Sometimes a visual or tactile learning aid can make all the difference to elucidating a concept to an audience. In the case viruses and their methods of self-assembly,
[AtomicVirology] made a 3D printed device to demonstrate how they work.
The result of this work is a printed dodecahedron, assembled from multiple components. Each face of the dodecahedron consists of a 5-sided pentagon, and is a separate piece. Each face contains magnets which allow the various faces to stick together. Amazingly, when a bunch of these faces are all thrown into a container and jumbled together, they eventually assemble themselves into complete dodecahedrons.
While it’s no virus, and the parts can’t replicate themselves en masse, the demonstration is instructive. Viruses themselves self-assemble in a similar fashion, thanks to sub-units that interact with each other in the tumultuous environment of a host cell.
We love a good
teaching tool
around these parts. 3D printing has the benefit of allowing teachers to create their own such devices with just a few hours spent in some CAD software.
Viruses…assemble! Check out our new 3D printed model to demonstrate virus symmetry and self assembly.
#lovevirology
#3Dprinting
pic.twitter.com/BWOTIZXMNU
— Stephen Graham's Lab (@AtomicVirology)
December 8, 2022 | 11 | 5 | [
{
"comment_id": "6550619",
"author": "TG",
"timestamp": "2022-12-14T18:26:26",
"content": "Just need to put numbers on the sides",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "6550657",
"author": "Swift",
"timestamp": "2022-12-14T19:38:18",
"conten... | 1,760,372,464.136294 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2022/12/14/massive-mouse-game-mimics-classic-software-crashes/ | Massive Mouse Game Mimics Classic Software Crashes | Robin Kearey | [
"Art",
"Games",
"Peripherals Hacks"
] | [
"Giant Scale",
"mouse",
"optical mouse",
"optical mouse sensor"
] | Computer mice come in all kinds of shapes and sizes, but are typically designed to fit in the palm of your hand. While some users with large hands may find standard mice uncomfortably small, we don’t think anyone will ever make that complaint about
the humongous peripheral
[Felix Fisgus] made for a game called
Office Job
at the ENIAROF art festival in Marseille. With a length of about two meters we suspect it might be the largest functional computer mouse in existence.
Inside the massive mouse is a wooden pallet with four caster wheels that enable smooth movement in all directions. This motion is detected by an ordinary optical mouse sensor: perhaps surprisingly, these can be used at this enormous scale simply by placing a different lens in front.
As for the mouse button, [Felix] and his colleagues found of that the bottom of an empty five-liter can has a nice “pop” to it and installed one in the front section of the device, hooked up to an ESP32 board that communicates with a computer through Bluetooth.
The mouse connects to an equally huge desktop computer, powered by a Raspberry Pi, on which users play a game that involves clicking on error messages from a wide variety of old and new operating systems. Moving the mouse and pressing its button to hit those dialog boxes is a two-person job, and turns the annoyance of software errors into a competitive game.
Optical mouse sensors are versatile devices: apart from their obvious purpose they can also serve as
motion sensors for autonomous vehicles
, or even as
low-resolution cameras
. | 6 | 3 | [
{
"comment_id": "6550690",
"author": "Mike",
"timestamp": "2022-12-14T20:48:19",
"content": "I never imagined closing popups could be fun. Great job!",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "6550698",
"author": "andarb",
"timestamp": "2022-12-14T... | 1,760,372,464.255854 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2022/12/14/the-story-behind-the-tvguardian-curse-catcher/ | The Story Behind The TVGuardian Curse Catcher | Chris Lott | [
"Featured",
"Reverse Engineering",
"Slider",
"Teardown",
"Video Hacks"
] | [
"censoring",
"closed captioning",
"nsfw",
"reverse engineering"
] | The recent flurry of videos and posts about the TVGuardian foul language filter brought back some fond memories. I was the chief engineer on this project for most of its lifespan. You’ve
watched the teardowns
, you’ve
seen the reverse engineering
, now here’s the inside scoop.
Gumby is Born
TVG Model 101 Gumby (
Technology Connections
)
Back in 1999, my company took on a redesign project for the TVG product, a box that replaced curse words in closed-captioning with sanitized equivalents. Our first task was to take an existing design that had been produced in limited volumes and improve it to be more easily manufactured.
The original PCB used all thru-hole components and didn’t scale well to large quantity production. Replacing the parts with their surface mount equivalents resulted in Model 101, internally named Gumby for reasons long lost. If you have a sharp eye, you will have noticed something odd about two parts on the board as shown in
[Ben Eater]’s video
. The Microchip PIC and the Zilog OSD chip had two overlapping footprints, one for thru-hole and one for SMD. Even though we preferred SMD parts, sometimes there were supply issues. This was a technique we used on several designs in our company to hedge our bets. It also allowed us to use a socketed ICs for testing and development.
The Gumby Light, Easy to Carry on Business Trips
The Model 101 case received some jabs in the video, and deservedly so. The case mold was made before my involvement, but the original prototype we received was in a box that was too expensive to use in production, and it had a locking door on the back which ostensibly prevented one from unplugging the cables. At the time, our client had licensed at least one other flavor of the box called Curse Free TV (
[foone] obtained one of those in their collection
), and this required a mold insert to change the branding. I can’t remember the details of why there was the unused RF input, but it was either a regulatory requirement or just a consequence available modules on the market in the 1990s. My colleague fashioned a unique version for travel that was flat (without the RF modulator). We called it “Gumby Light”.
Portion of PIC Assembly that samples Line 21
One non-obvious thing I’d like to mention about the Zilog Z86129 CC/OSD chip is that it was only half-used. The ‘129 was made to work as a stand-alone CC processor, and had no provision to access to the decoded CC data stream. Gumby’s design completely ignored this half of the chip, and used the ‘129 as an OSD generator only. Instead, the original designers thresholded line 21 data and shifted it into the PIC using really clever/evil assembly language. There were 96 pairs of bit test / bit set instructions, each executing in the same amount of time regardless of whether the CC data slicer comparator was high or low.
As [Alec] pointed out in his video, there was a switch that turned off filtering, changing the box into an external CC decoder. There was a minor demand for this functionality during all the years these products were sold, and all the designs retained this capability. Despite the FCC mandate for all new TVs to have a built-in closed caption decoder, some viewers with older or small TV sets still wanted captions and ordered these models just for that purpose.
Foul Language Dictionary
When I watched [Ben Eater] start to connect up the serial EEPROM to pull out the curse words, I was reminded of a funny incident during the production ramp-up of Gumby. The manufacturer asked to approve an alternate supplier for this EEPROM. After I checked the data sheet and a few samples, I authorized the request. Soon afterwards, they came back with a mysterious failure. We quickly tracked the problem down to the EEPROM, and realized that the data was all scrambled. But strangely, I could reprogram it and it worked fine. I clearly remember a phone call with a lady from the service company that we used to program the chips. They were following the correct procedure, getting the correct checksums, and we were baffled. There was a long pause, and she suddenly broke the silence,
“You know, it’s none of my business, but there are a some really bad words here in your hex file”.
In response to that incident, I implemented a cursory scrambling of the text, not for encryption, but so someone casually browsing the data wouldn’t be hit by a screenful of cussing. Alas, the unit [Ben] dismantled was manufactured before this.
We did ultimately find the problem with the EEPROM. The substitute had a block programming mode that put the contents into memory in a different sequence than the Microchip 93LC86 did. This was not implemented in all chip programmers, nor documented in the data sheet, but was discovered upon requesting further programming documents from the manufacturer.
Daisy and Oliver
Model 201 Oliver (credit: Family Safe Media)
Once Gumby production was underway, the search was on for a new design that could handle new features, expanded I/O options like S-Video, digital audio, and multiple inputs. This turned out to be much more challenging than anyone thought. While chip manufacturers had various options for handling CC, they were focusing their efforts on digital video. It was clear that analog CC was on the decline. The Zilog ‘129 and its sister chips were very tempting contenders. At heart, they were really a DSP / microprocessor with custom masked-ROM firmware. We explored the option of using that in a new design with modified firmware. Gaining Zilog’s cooperation was tough, and when we learned the chip’s ROM was already filled to capacity, we gave up on that approach.
Model 301 Daisy (credit: Family Safe Media)
We finally stumbled on the Painter chip by Philips Semiconductor that was too good to pass up. It was a complete MCU (8051) with all the CC circuitry built-in and came with libraries for CC and user menu OSD. I wrote about this chip in
my previous article on analog Closed Captions
. Despite being told the part was “secret”, we eventually got permission to use it. This was my first, but sadly not last, encounter with the concept of a part and its support being so complicated that the manufacturer is very selective about who they can use it. Despite this hurdle, the team at Philips were great to work with. The Painter design formed the basis of three set top box models:
Model 201 Oliver (2004)
Model 301 Daisy (2004)
Model 401 Oscar (2010)
Two-board FR1/FR4 Solution was less expensive
The Oliver and Daisy designs, names also of unknown origin, were both based on the Painter chip, but with differing number of inputs. Daisy only had one and Oliver had two. Digital audio turned out to be easy to mute. It was no different than muting analog audio, except using different connectors. In both cases, audio being muted by interrupting the signal with a CMOS 4066 analog switch. Originally both designs used a single board, but our contract manufacturer requested a two-board solution to save costs. The connectors were mounted on a single-sided FR1 board, and therefore the main four-layer FR4 board was able to be smaller. It surprised us that adding the inter-board connectors and the extra processing was cheaper, but that’s the way the numbers added up.
Model 401, Oscar (credit: Family Safe Media)
That case mold insert came in handy for the Daisy version, since we could used that area for a membrane keypad overlay. Oscar, just another name starting with the same letter as Oliver, wraps up the analog series of set top boxes. It was just a PCB re-spin, made years later in 2010, using a different enclosure and probably the very last inventory in the world of Painter chips.
Macrovision
As good as it was, the Painter solution had a few issues in a set top box application. It was designed to exist inside a TV set, and required stable horizontal and vertical sync signals. We had to make this external to the chip. This would normally be a straightforward design but was complicated by the need to tolerate Macrovision’s Analog Copy Protection (ACP) scheme of the day. ACP existed in various flavors, all of them inserted extra sync pulses of varying amplitude in the vertical blanking interval (VBI) of the video. Ostensibly, these pulses wouldn’t mess with the high-Q tank synchronization circuit of a television set, but caused havoc on the sync and AGC circuits of VHS recorders. The PIC design we inherited in Gumby tolerated Macrovision in firmware, but wasn’t perfect. This worried me, because ACP methods were numerous and subject to change. I didn’t want to test against all different forms that the set top boxes might encounter in the field. So I chickened out on this part of the circuit design and bought a solution off-the-shelf in the form of the Elantec (now Renesas) EL1883 sync separator chip, passing the buck as it were.
A second but minor issue was that like the Zilog chip, normal CC module usage was as a stand-alone black box with no access to read / modify the data stream. But this being implemented in firmware, it was easy to hack around. We were able to grab and alter the data before presenting it to the CC decoder function.
Reference to Keil Encrypted Source Files (from obsolete Philips manual)
The Painter support firmware provided by Philips was not entirely pre-compiled libraries. There were some aspects of the build that required re-compilation of certain proprietary source code files, depending on features needed by the application. Philips provided these files as encrypted source code and a decryption tool in the form of a Windows DLL named
C51_RD.dll
. They cooperated with Keil so that the compiler knew to make use of this decryption algorithm whenever a file with an
.ec
extension was encountered. I presume this ability must no longer be part of Keil, since I cannot find any mention of it online in 2022.
On the Trailing Edge
Factory Test Screen for Adjusting Vsync Pulsewidth
While the ‘1883 solved the Macrovision problem, there was one hiccup. The leading edge of the VSYNC signal was precisely specified, but the falling edge was not — in other words, the pulsewidth of VSYNC was not controlled. In fact, it varied quite a bit from chip to chip. This was not good, because the Painter’s CC decoding synchronized on the trailing edge of VSYNC. It turned out that the pulse width could be tweaked by changing the value of an external resistor
Rset
.
We dealt with this by adding a factory calibration step. The Painter would measure and display VSYNC pulse width the operator, and the operator would adjust the width up and down using two test fixture buttons until the pulse width reached the desired value, the Painter changing the effective Rset value using a PWM output. We collected over a thousand of these settings during the first production in 2004 in order to characterize the spread, both out of curiosity and at Elantec engineering’s request.
Observed Probability Distribution of Vsync Variations
Fully Digital? Project Herbert
The set top box design remained stable for many years and the project eventually wound down. The advent of digital television and video made the technology in these units obsolete. Or so I thought. In 2010, I was asked to undertake a new design using HDMI video. The TVGuardian inventor [Rick Bray] had discovered that most HDMI video sources continued to provide simultaneous analog composite video output with the CC signal. Thus began the design of a new set top box I named Herbert — a random name starting with an “H” standing for HD video.
Testing the First Herbert Prototype on the Bench
Entering the world of HDMI video designs is not for the faint-hearted. The entry price is painful, with steep annual membership required in both the HDMI and HDCP organizations along with per-unit royalties — those were in fact actually reasonable. None of the available HDMI chips had support for CC, since there is no CC data transmitted over the HDMI interface, a point I discussed in
this article
. We eventually selected the ADV7623 from Analog Devices, an HDMI repeater chip with support for OSD text and icons. This was one of those parts that came with the promise of minimal or no support from the manufacturer, especially since I was trying to use it in a way it wasn’t intended — that is, dynamically changing text instead of fixed OSD.
Model 501, Herbert (credit: Family Safe Media)
The Analog Devices engineers turned out to more helpful that we expected. While it was a long and frustrating hack, I eventually figured out the various hidden and undefined behaviors of the OSD system and made it work. Besides the original goal of making a CC decoder, another client in Korea wanted to use this chip to generate a scrolling text crawl along the bottom of the screen. Naturally, he wanted both English and Korean text (Hangul). That was another fun hack as well, generating foreign language glyphs and moving them smoothly one pixel at a time across the screen. The Herbert platform supported the TVG Model 501 product, and a few other niche applications that needed dynamic OSD overlay on HDMI.
Not a Telephone Jack
One interesting accessory I designed, but was never sold, was a center-channel audio muting switch for use with surround sound systems. There is an 6P6C modular connector on the back of Herbert providing auxiliary power and muting signals for this accessory. The idea here is that 95% of movie dialog comes in the center channel speaker, and the mute is less jarring when only the words are muted and other background sounds are preserved. I avoided needing to decode, tinker with, and re-encode the surround sound signals by just switching the wires going to the center-channel speaker. However, this was a pretty expensive module — it used relays to mute the audio, and switched in 8-ohm power resistors when muting in order to trick the amplifier into thinking the speaker was still connected. Otherwise, some amplifiers would sense a fault and shut down.
“Wow You” and “Oh Crud”
Herbert Factory Test Station Two
Factory testing needed a long repeatable source of closed captioning which included filthy words. In the very beginning, the factory used VHS copies of
South Park
animated sitcoms. Later on, I experimented with various custom VHS tapes, DVD movies, and even a computer with dual CC generator cards installed. I finally settled on making two custom DVDs. These had a video color bar test pattern and line 21 data containing words that alternated between cussing and not. These are the WOW YOU and OH CRUD test discs — two different discs/phrases were used so the operator could distinguish channel 1 from channel 2. A full setup for testing Herbert input used two DVD/BD players providing HDMI video, and two DVD players containing the CC discs generating the composite video. For outputs, a monitor was used to check the HDMI output, an oscilloscope with an optical to coaxial digital adaptor was used to check the muting, and a pair of LEDs were used to check the never-used auxiliary connector.
Bunny and Project Sally
All these experiences with closed designs and specialty chips really bothered me, and I continued searching for alternatives. On the HDMI side, I was really interested in applying the techniques developed by [Bunnie Huang] for NeTV, which
we covered back in 2012
. I experimented with his development kit, but alas I could not convince any of our clients to take the perceived legal risk of using his approach in a product.
Project Sally in Development
I had more success with an internal design I called Sally — boringly named because “S” stood for for SD video. I was inspired by various Arm-based projects which were generating VGA signals directly for retro games. But it seemed to me that these wasted a lot of memory storing with pixel buffers. Then one day I realized that a timer-counter register could serve as the destination for a DMA transfer (on an LPC1768 at least). This meant you could store pixel data much more efficiently in a run-length encoding manner. A line of pixels was just a short buffer of amplitudes and timer durations. I built and demonstrated this approach, successfully generating test video patterns or CC signals. It could also synchronize with an incoming video signal for doing overlay of menus and CC data. Alas, this design never made it into production, but I may revisit this in a future writeup.
Recent Videos and Posts about TVGuardian
[Alec Watson]’s Technology Connections
video “This TV gadget censors bad words with 1980’s tech”
[Ben Eater]’s follow-on video entitled
“Hacking a weird TV censoring device”
, which we covered
here
[RetroStuff]’s post
“TVGuardian 101 and 201 Foul Language Filters”
(actually from last year)
[foone]’s
extensive experiments with various TVG models | 23 | 16 | [
{
"comment_id": "6550521",
"author": "Sam",
"timestamp": "2022-12-14T15:29:07",
"content": "Thanks for this fantastic write up. HAD never ceases to amaze me with the quality and breath of its articles.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "6550527",
... | 1,760,372,464.206989 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2022/12/14/hud-like-clock-is-a-transparent-time-display/ | HUD-Like Clock Is A Transparent Time Display | Lewin Day | [
"clock hacks"
] | [
"clock",
"heads up display",
"hud"
] | While we have all types of displays these days, there’s something special about those that appear to float in the air. This
HUD clock from [Kiwi Bushwalker]
is one such example.
The build relies on four 8×8 LED matrixes to display the four digits that make up the time, run by the MAX7219 driver chip. However, the LEDs aren’t viewed directly — that would be too simple. Instead, the matrixes shoot their light up at an angle towards a tilted piece of clear acrylic. This creates a “heads-up display” look where the numbers appear to float in the air. The clock gets accurate time from an NTP time server over WiFi, thanks to the ESP32 microcontroller that runs the show.
It’s a straightforward clock build in many ways, but we particularly like the use of the heads-up display technique. It’s almost surprising we don’t see these projects more often, for things like
car dashboard displays
or targeting womp rats in a T-16 landspeeder. If you’ve been whipping up your own HUD projects,
don’t hesitate to notify the tipsline! | 13 | 6 | [
{
"comment_id": "6550433",
"author": "Stuart Longland",
"timestamp": "2022-12-14T12:58:00",
"content": "A “pepper’s ghost” clock… nice. :-)",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "6550511",
"author": "Paul",
"timestamp": "2022-12-14T15:05:54",
... | 1,760,372,466.137892 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2022/12/14/resurrecting-pong-one-jumper-wire-at-a-time/ | ResurrectingPONG, One Jumper Wire At A Time | Ryan Flowers | [
"classic hacks",
"Games"
] | [
"breadboard",
"Coleco",
"pong",
"retro gaming"
] | Between 1976 and 1978, over one million Coleco Telstar video game consoles were sold. The Killer App that made them so desirable?
PONG
. Yep, those two paddles bouncing a ball around a blocky tennis court were all the rage and helped usher in a new era. And as [Dave] of
Dave’s Garage
shows us in
the video below the break
, the bringing the old console back to life proved simpler than expected!
Thankfully, the console is built around what [Dave] quite aptly calls “PONG on a chip”, the
General Instrument AY-3-8500
which was designed to make mass production of consoles possible. The chip actually contains several games, although
PONG
was the only one in use on the Coleco.
After removing the CPU from the non-functional console, [Dave] breathed life into it by providing a 2 MHz clock signal that was generated by an Arduino, of all things. A typical 2N2222 amplifies the audio, and a quick power up showed that the chip was working and generating audio.
Video is smartly taken care of just as it was in the original design, by combining various signals with a 4072 OR gate. With various video elements and synchronization patterns combined into a composite video signal, [Dave] was able to see the game on screen, but then realized that he’d need to design some “paddles”. We’ll leave that up to you to watch in the video, but make sure to check the comments section for more information on the design.
Is a breadboarded
PONG
console not retro enough for you? Then check out this
old school mechanical version
that was found languishing in a thrift store. | 18 | 5 | [
{
"comment_id": "6550382",
"author": "RH",
"timestamp": "2022-12-14T10:52:35",
"content": "It’s not a CPU. Based on die photos, it’s more akin to a microcontroller (MCU), as it has not just a (serial) processor in it, but also the video and audio-generation circuitry. The OR gate is mainly just to c... | 1,760,372,466.478672 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2022/12/13/open-world-3d-game-runs-on-the-rp2040-microcontroller/ | Open World 3D Game Runs On The RP2040 Microcontroller | Lewin Day | [
"Games"
] | [
"3d engine",
"pi pico",
"rp2040"
] | The Raspberry Pi RP2040 is versatile and cheap, but it’s by no means known as the most powerful microcontroller on the world. Regardless, it is capable of great things, as demonstrated by [Bernhard Strobl],
who built a 3D open world game engine that runs on that very platform.
The graphics are simple, but with a compelling low-poly style.
The game engine itself is built to run on the Pimoroni PicoSystem, which is essentially a handheld gaming platform built around the RP2040 chip. The engine takes advantage of the multi-core nature of the RP2040, using the second core as a dedicated rasterizer to keep frames pumping out.
The basic game [Bernhard] built in the engine features 50 NPC characters and 50 further zombies, all running at the same time. Specs are impressive, with the engine’s included game simulating a “world” of 120 x 120 meters in size. As a maximum limit, the engine can handle a 2.56 x 2.56 km world, thanks to the use of 8-bit integers for directional data. However, limited storage space would make it difficult to achieve such a large world in practice.
We don’t get to see much of the gameplay
in the YouTube video
, but the quality of the graphics is impressive for
such a cheap microcontroller
. It seems within the bounds of possibility that an actual open-world game could be practical on the PicoSystem if only enough storage were available. Video after the break. | 15 | 8 | [
{
"comment_id": "6550250",
"author": "jpa",
"timestamp": "2022-12-14T06:15:19",
"content": "I wonder if the RP2040 hardware interpolators could speed up the rasterizer. They seem like interesting hardware, but I haven’t seen them used much anywhere.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"repl... | 1,760,372,465.861515 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2022/12/15/australias-soft-plastic-recycling-debacle/ | Australia’s Soft Plastic Recycling Debacle | Lewin Day | [
"Current Events",
"Featured",
"green hacks",
"Slider"
] | [
"recycle",
"recycling",
"redcycle",
"waste"
] | We’ve all been told to cut back on waste to help prevent environmental crisis on Earth. Reducing waste helps reduce the need to spend time and energy digging up fresh materials, and helps reduce the amount of trash we have to go out and bury in the ground in landfills. Recycling is a big part of this drive, allowing us to divert waste by reprocessing it into fresh new materials.
Sadly, though, recycling isn’t always as magical as it seems. As Australia has just found out, it’s harder than it sounds, and often smoke and mirrors prevent the public from understanding what’s really going on. Here’s how soft plastic recycling went wrong Down Under.
Yeah, Those Are Totally Recyclable!
REDcycle was established to recycle soft plastics, with the vast majority collected from deposit bins at supermarkets. Credit: REDcycle
In Australia, an operation called REDcycle had long operated a network set up for the recycling of soft plastics. These are defined as plastic packaging items that one can readily crumple up in the hand – things like bread bags, cereal box liners, postal satchels, and even woven polypropylene carry bags. REDcycle placed collection bins at supermarkets around the country to allow people to drop off soft plastics collected in their household. After collection, the soft plastics were processed by REDcycle and handed off to partner organizations. These companies remanufactured the plastics into items like
furniture
,
bollards
, and
signage.
Others used the recycled plastic as a feedstock to produce asphalt additives for road construction.
The operation appeared to be successfully running for quite some time, since being established in 2011. REDcycle’s own website speaks of recycling thousands of tonnes of waste plastic that would traditionally have ended up in landfill. However, the story wasn’t to remain so rosy. The program saw a 350% rise in collection volumes since 2019, with over five million pieces of soft plastic deposited in REDcycle bins each day. This put additional pressure on the program to find a way to deal with the influx of material. It was too successful.
The situation came to a head in November this year, when REDcycle had to “temporarily pause” collection of soft plastics entirely. REDcycle put the issue down to “unforeseen challenges,” in part related to the pandemic. The organisation’s reprocessing partners had stopped accepting plastics. In one case this was due to a facility destroyed by fire, in another due to reduced demand for recycled plastic products. REDcycle has stated its intention to resume collection of soft plastics as soon as possible.
Further investigations revealed the problem had far deeper roots. Investigations revealed the company was sitting on 3,000 tons of soft plastics that were being stored across a network of at least six warehouses. Not only were the materials not being recycled, but they presented a fire risk while in storage. Notably, the local Environment Protection Authority reported to journalists that it had to
engage in its own investigations
to find all the warehouses being used. According to the government agency, REDcycle only notified the EPA of some of the locations. Contractors for REDcycle indicated to journalists that the stockpiling of material had been ongoing
since 2018.
Figures suggest REDcycle was bringing in on the order of 7,000 tonnes of soft plastics a year. However, the company’s reprocessing partners were only able to process approximately 3,200 tonnes a year, with the shortfall apparently stuffed into warehouses across the country.
The company had promised that the plastics were being recycled and put to good use, and when the business case simply didn’t stack up, it quietly diverted the waste stream rather than facing up to the problem. The news that the company had simply been warehousing the plastic
led to widespread anger from the broader public.
Those who had gone to great effort to collect and deposit their soft plastics had learned that it was all for nothing.
All Supply, No Demand
The fact remains that soft plastics are a challenge to recycle. Kerbside trash collectors often ban them from recycling bins, because they clog up conveyer belts used to sort materials. REDcycle solved the collection side of the equation, but the real problem was then reprocessing the material. Food often contaminates the materials, making reprocessing harder and reducing the materials value. Plus, in Australia, at least, there simply hasn’t been enough industrial demand for the waste plastic to keep up with what’s being collected.
Recycling has had long-standing problems in Australia. For the punter on the street, the idea is that the right trash put in the right bin will eventually be turned into something fresh and new. While Australia does a great job at collecting recycling, the reality is that there’s seldom little to do with the material once it’s been picked up. The broader recycling industry faced huge issues in 2017, when China decided
it no longer wanted to accept contaminated plastic waste from Australia
. That left recycling programs struggling to find outlets for what they were collecting. Until then, the attitude had been to box it up and ship it overseas where it was someone else’s problem.
The hope is that
new advanced techniques
will enable soft plastics to be more readily recycled. These techniques aim to take waste plastic and turn it back into its chemical precursors that are more useful to industry. Through chemical, thermal, and other processes, it may be possible to economically convert old food wrappers, face masks, and other materials into pure chemicals ready to be used to make new products, or to simply convert waste into usable industrial fuels. However, many of these plastic purification and depolymerization techniques are still at the research stage, or in testing in pilot plants. They may become more viable commercial-scale methods in future.
For now, Australia finds itself trying to pick up the pieces of what it thought was a viable recycling scheme. Outside of
a few small pilot programs
, people are being told to simply throw their soft plastics in the garbage, as no viable recycling pipeline exists. The collapse of the REDcycle program has done harm to the face of recycling in the country. It will cause many to question why they should bother to recycle when previous efforts have proven false or futile. For the good of the environment, though, the hope is that future developments will one day recycle this huge waste stream, rather then simply burying it from view.
Featured Image: “
Plastic bottles for recycling
” by Radulf del Maresme | 80 | 26 | [
{
"comment_id": "6551112",
"author": "Paul",
"timestamp": "2022-12-15T15:23:45",
"content": "“3,000 tons of soft plastics that were being stored across a network of at least six warehouses. “Hunh? How is this a big deal? 3000 tons will fit in a school gymnasium. It’s roughly one hour of Australia’s... | 1,760,372,466.414806 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2022/12/15/virtual-yule-log-brings-old-tradition-to-the-web/ | Virtual Yule Log Brings Old Tradition To The Web | Lewin Day | [
"Holiday Hacks",
"internet hacks"
] | [
"web",
"yule log"
] | Yule Log broadcasts are a bit of an American tradition, though similar content has also been broadcast around the world. They consist of a video of a log burning in a fireplace, ideally merrily so, and often feature Christmas carols or other holiday songs to help create a festive mood. [Joshua Gross] wanted to bring that tradition up to date, and thus built a Yule Log website with the help of some creative technologists.
What are Yule looking at?
WebYuleLog.com
, as the project is known, features several web-based recreations of the Yule Log concept. They are charming little creations built with different techniques, from the AI-generated to those hewn from simple, pure HTML and CSS. They range from cute
8-bit-esque tributes
to burning firewood, to the
ethereal and unrecognizable thought bubbles
of an image-generating neural network. We’re pretty sure
one of them
is a oblique reference to an old Excel 97 Easter Egg, too.
It’s funny how much can be achieved
within a modern browser window
. Once upon a time, you were lucky to get a few GIFs and an obnoxious looping MIDI soundtrack. | 2 | 2 | [
{
"comment_id": "6551131",
"author": "TG",
"timestamp": "2022-12-15T15:48:37",
"content": "In the future, people with Neuralink will be able to imagine a virtual scene in which they use a simulated laptop to view a simulated CRT television displaying a simulated fireplace which simulates an ancient ... | 1,760,372,466.177146 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2022/12/15/giving-your-pets-a-digital-squeak/ | Giving Your Pets A Digital Squeak | Matthew Carlson | [
"gps hacks",
"Microcontrollers",
"Wireless Hacks"
] | [
"gps tracker",
"LoRaWAN",
"pet tracking"
] | A pet tracker has a particularly grueling set of requirements: small, light, rugged, incredibly long battery life, safe for the pet, and cheap. [Mihai Cuciuc] was looking at the options and wasn’t thrilled with any of them. So as any hacker would,
he rolled his own, dubbed Squeak
.
It uses an RN2483 module as it is a LoRAWAN module with
publically available firmware
from Microchip itself. This means [Mihai] could add his code and keep the modem code without having to reverse engineer everything or add a second microcontroller. In addition to the modem, there’s a GPS unit connected via UART. The clever part is the dual voltage regulators — the one powering the GPS is enabled or disabled by the RN2483. In addition, the RAM V_BACKUP line is always powered, which means the RN2483 can power up the GPS and let it get a quick fix (thanks to the RAM backup line).
To maximize the chances of a packet making it through, he made them only have the bare essentials. There are return packets to change the tracker’s mode (such as uplink interval or how often to capture GPS). With some cloud support, [Mihai] created infrastructure to capture the packets and relay them to Telegram. He can request the last location, receive updates, and change modes.
We’ve got you covered if you’re interested in tracking
some of your dog’s other habits
. | 4 | 2 | [
{
"comment_id": "6551045",
"author": "shinsukke",
"timestamp": "2022-12-15T12:29:44",
"content": "Love the magnetic charging port! Its a no brainer for outdoor type projects. I wonder why I never thought of using those.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comme... | 1,760,372,465.800951 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2022/12/14/dumping-game-boy-cartridges-via-the-link-cable-port/ | Dumping Game Boy Cartridges Via The Link Cable Port | Lewin Day | [
"Nintendo Game Boy Hacks"
] | [
"backup",
"catridge",
"game boy",
"ROM dump"
] | When it comes to vintage consoles like the Game Boy, it’s often nice to be able to dump cartridge ROMs for posterity, for archival, and for emulation. To that end,
[Francis Stokes] of [Low Byte Productions] whipped up a rather unique method of dumping Game Boy carts via the link cable port.
The method starts by running custom code on the Game Boy, delivered by flash cart. That code loads itself into RAM, and then waits for the user to swap in a cart they wish to dump and press a button. The code then reads the cartridge, byte by byte, sending it out over the link port. To capture the data, [Francis] simply uses a Saleae logic analyzer to do the job. Notably, the error rate was initially super high with this method, until [Francis] realised that cutting down the length of the link cable cut down on noise that was interfering with the signal.
The code is available
on GitHub
for those interested.
There are other ways to dump Game Boy cartridges too, of course
. | 17 | 6 | [
{
"comment_id": "6550923",
"author": "Eric Chapin",
"timestamp": "2022-12-15T06:28:41",
"content": "It should be noted this trick will not work on the original “fat” Gameboy because the power switch has a sliding tab that locks the cart slot, preventing one from inserting or removing a cart. Moddin... | 1,760,372,466.089666 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2022/12/14/how-the-turntable-paradox-works/ | How The Turntable Paradox Works | Lewin Day | [
"Science"
] | [
"physics",
"rotation",
"turntable"
] | Leave most objects on top of a turntable, and set it spinning, and they’ll fly off in short order. Do the same with a ball, though, and it somehow manages to roll around on top for quite some time without falling off. [Steve Mould] set about unpacking this “Turntable Paradox”
in a recent YouTube video.
In the basic case, the fact that the ball rolls is what keeps it on the turntable. As the turntable spins, the ball spins in the opposite direction, as per Newton’s first law of motion. As long as the ball is allowed to roll up to the same speed as the turntable, it will pretty much stay in place in the absence of any other perturbing forces. In the event the ball is nudged along the turntable, though, it quickly ends up in a more complicated circular motion, orbiting in a ratio to the speed of the turntable itself. [Steve] explains the mechanisms at play, and dives into the mathematics behind what’s going on.
Sometimes, demonstrations like these can seem like mere curiosities. However, understanding physical effects like these has been key to the development of
all kinds of complicated and fantastical machinery
. Video after the break. | 35 | 18 | [
{
"comment_id": "6550875",
"author": "Mike",
"timestamp": "2022-12-15T04:08:55",
"content": "Extrapolate to lack of correlation between classical Newtonian physics and planetary/galactic observations vis a vis proposed Dark Matter.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
... | 1,760,372,466.296732 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2022/12/14/omniwhegs-are-awesome-times-two/ | Omniwhegs Are Awesome Times Two | Elliot Williams | [
"Robots Hacks"
] | [
"legs",
"robot",
"wheels",
"whegs"
] | What’s the strangest wheel? The omniwheel. Unless you count whegs — “wheel legs” — as wheels. This
research paper from Shanghai Technical University
explores a mash-up of the two ideas, where the wheels roll as standard omniwheels until a servo on the axle unfurls them into their whegs configuration. The result? OmniWhegs!
The resulting vehicle is a bit of a departure from
the original whegs concept
, which used compliant mechanisms which passively balanced the force across the legs. Here, the omniwhegs are rigid and actually use a synchronization routine that you can see in the video embedded below.
If you can’t get enough omniwheels, you’re not alone. Here’s a
rare three-wheeler
, and here’s an
omniwheel made of MDF
. We haven’t seen enough whegs-based bots, but
OutRunner is pretty astounding
, and we think deserves a second look.
We’ve also seen
wheels that convert to whegs
before, but without the omni. And we don’t know if that one ever made it out of render-of-a-robot phase.
So kudos to the Shanghai team for taking the strangest possible wheels and actually building them! | 26 | 13 | [
{
"comment_id": "6550812",
"author": "Ostracus",
"timestamp": "2022-12-15T01:14:15",
"content": "Gone are the days of my news being either, “paper or plastic”?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "6550818",
"author": "J. Samson",
"timestamp":... | 1,760,372,465.924398 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2022/12/14/nanoaetherphone-is-a-special-midi-controller/ | Nanoaetherphone Is A Special MIDI Controller | Lewin Day | [
"Musical Hacks"
] | [
"midi",
"midi controller",
"music",
"theremin"
] | MIDI controllers can be simple straightforward keyboards, or wild magical devices that seem to snatch notes from the very aether itself. As you might expect from the name,
the Nanoaetherphone II is one of the latter.
The device is inspired by the Theremin, and was built to celebrate its 100th anniversary. The Nanoaetherphone II is all about using sensors to capture data from wireless hand-wavey interactions, and turn it into MIDI messages. To this end, it has an LDR sensor for detecting light levels, which determines volume levels. This is actuated by the user’s thumb, blocking the sensor or allowing ambient light to reach it. At the front of the handheld unit, there is also an ultrasonic range sensor. Depending on how close the sensor is to the user’s hand or other object determines the exact note sent by the device. As a MIDI controller, it is intended to be hooked up to an external synthesizer to actually generate sound.
The overall concept isn’t too complicated, and the design makes it easy to pickup and play. We imagine it could even be foolproofed by programming it only to play notes from a given scale or mode, allowing for easy soloing without too many of those ill-tempered blue notes. Jazz enthusiasts might prefer it to just spit out any and all notes, of course.
We love a good MIDI controller around these parts, and we’ve seen everything from
knitted models
to those
made out of old phones.
Video after the break. | 11 | 8 | [
{
"comment_id": "6550717",
"author": "The Commenter Formerly Known As Ren",
"timestamp": "2022-12-14T21:29:12",
"content": "Make it just a centimeter smaller and I could wear it on my /not/ leg.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "6550764",
... | 1,760,372,466.228088 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2022/12/11/hackaday-links-december-11-2022/ | Hackaday Links: December 11, 2022 | Dan Maloney | [
"Hackaday Columns",
"Hackaday links",
"Slider"
] | [
"ai",
"bell labs",
"big bang",
"broadcast",
"chatbot",
"ChatGPT",
"cosmic microwave background",
"fm",
"hackaday links",
"Holmdel",
"Horn Antenna",
"plasma",
"RF",
"Stack OverFlow",
"supertower"
] | “They paved paradise and put up a parking lot.” That might be stretching things a bit, especially when the “paradise” in question is in New Jersey, but there’s a move afoot to
redevelop the site of the original “Big Bang Antenna”
that has some people pretty upset. Known simply as “The Horn Antenna” since it was built by Bell Labs in 1959 atop a hill in Holmdel, New Jersey, the antenna was originally designed to study long-distance microwave communications. But in 1964, Bell Labs researchers Arno Penzias and Robert Wilson accidentally discovered the microwave remnants of the Big Bang, the cosmic background radiation, using the antenna, earning it a place in scientific history. So far, the only action taken by the township committee has been to authorize a study to look into whether the site should be redeveloped. But the fact that the site is one of the highest points in Monmouth County with sweeping views of Manhattan has some people wondering what’s really on tap for the site.
A petition to save the antenna
currently has about 3,400 signatures, so you might want to check that out — after all, you don’t know what you’ve got ’til it’s gone.
Eliza rides again? Maybe a little bit, at least judging by
the current fascination with ChatGPT
. The AI chatbot went live on November 30 with a “research release” that’s free to use, at least for now. People are using it for everything from getting help with coding questions to writing poetry, with mixed results. One Hackaday writer, who shall remain nameless, even used ChatGPT to write an article about a specific project on Reddit “in the style of Hackaday.” Relax, it wasn’t published — we just looked it over internally on Discord. While it sounded convincing enough superficially, the article was hot garbage as far as facts and specifics about the project. We could be a little biased about that, though. We also spotted
an “interview” with ChatGPT
over on
IEEE Spectrum
, which supposedly captures answers to questions put to the chat bot. Honestly, it reads a little like the interview with HAL 9000 in
2001: A Space Odyssey
.
Also in ChatGPT news, it looks like the chatbot is getting a little too chatty for the likes of Stack Overflow.
The platform has wielded the ban-hammer on content generated by ChatGPT
, which apparently has become a popular way for people to pad out their stats. SO’s ban, which is characterized as “temporary,” is based on the fact that while ChatGPT-generated answers are often factually incorrect, they can look pretty legit. We’re honestly not sure exactly how this differs from human-generated answers, or how SO’s mods will tell the difference. So naturally, we asked ChatGPT to clarify:
Feel better?
And finally,
a couple of weeks ago
we featured a really interesting in-depth video tour of a 1,000,000-watt FM supertower. There was a ton of eye-candy in that one, from the hardline coax to the massive copper pipes used in the tower’s massive fleet of combiners. Now, Jeff Geerling and his dad have dropped
a follow-up video
that has a little more detail on that “1,000,000-watt” figure. The details are sure to entertain any RF geek, as is the somewhat terrifying look at what that much RF can do if something goes wrong. | 13 | 8 | [
{
"comment_id": "6548236",
"author": "The Commenter Formerly Known As Ren",
"timestamp": "2022-12-12T00:12:45",
"content": "So, the Horn is still there, but non-functional?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "6548251",
"author": "cliff cla... | 1,760,372,466.533304 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2022/12/11/diy-comparatron-helps-trace-tiny-complex-objects/ | DIY Comparatron Helps Trace Tiny, Complex Objects | Donald Papp | [
"cnc hacks",
"Reverse Engineering",
"Tool Hacks"
] | [
"calipers",
"cnc",
"measurement",
"microscope",
"optical comparator",
"reverse engineering"
] | Hackers frequently find themselves reverse-engineering or interfacing to existing hardware and devices, and when that interface needs to be a physical one, it really pays to be able to take accurate measurements.
This is easy to do when an object is big enough to fit inside calipers, or at least straight enough to be laid against a ruler. But what does one do when things are complex shapes, or especially small? That’s where [Cameron]’s
DIY digital optical comparator comes in
, and unlike commercial units it’s entirely within the reach (and budget) of a clever hacker.
The
Comparatron
is based off a CNC pen plotter, but instead of a pen, it has a USB microscope attached with the help of a 3D-printed fixture. Serving as a background is an LED-illuminated panel, the kind useful for tracing.
The physical build instructions are here
, but the image should give most mechanically-minded folks a pretty clear idea of how it fits together.
So how does it work? One places the object to be measured onto the illuminated bed, and the software shows a live microscope view, with a tiny cross-hair in the middle of the video. By jogging the microscope around — which the platform is capable of doing in increments as small as 0.1 mm — one can visually mark a series of points on the object, creating a sort of point cloud.
Because the distances between these points are recorded by physically moving the microscope in known, real-world amounts, the resulting “point cloud” accurately reflects real-world points on the actual object. From there, one simply exports as a DXF, then imports into the CAD software of one’s choice. The last step is essentially connecting the dots. It requires some patience from the operator, but it’s highly accurate, and the price is certainly right.
The popularity of 3D printers has helped make CNC hardware cheaply accessible to hobbyists, and their precision makes them attractive foundations for
projects that measure small distances
. You can see [Cameron]’s
Comparatron
in action in the video below. | 21 | 7 | [
{
"comment_id": "6548106",
"author": "Andrew",
"timestamp": "2022-12-11T21:03:50",
"content": "One does not simply export as a DXF.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "6548165",
"author": "Jan Ciger (@janoc200)",
"timestamp": "2022... | 1,760,372,466.595 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2022/12/11/pdp-8-plays-period-popcorn-piece/ | PDP-8 Plays Period Popcorn Piece | Chris Lott | [
"Musical Hacks",
"Retrocomputing"
] | [
"DECUS",
"Gershon Kingsley",
"music",
"musical synthesizer",
"PDP-8"
] | [Kyle Owen], collector of antique tech, decided to try his hand at music arrangement — for the PDP-8 computer, that is (listen to
the video below the break
). He’s using a program submitted by Richard Wilson to the Digital Equipment Corporation Users Society (DECUS) in 1976, appropriately named MUSIC. It runs on OS/8 and is written in the PDP-8 assembly language PAL8. Using the syntax of MUSIC, [Kyle] arranged Gershon Kingsley’s famous Moog synthesizer hit “Popcorn” (the Hot Butter version from 1972).
You might notice the lack of a disk or tape drive in his setup. That’s because [Kyle] is using an
RK05 disk emulator he wrote
back in 2014. It’s running on a Raspberry Pi and connects over serial, which he says is slower than an RK05 but faster than a tape drive. He has connected up a Cordovox amplifier cabinet for this demonstration, but the original means of listening to the MUSIC output was an AM radio held near the computer (hear the second video below the break). This worked by executing the PDP-8 CAF instruction at a desired frequency, say 440 Hz.
Thus, when this instruction is executed, logic all over the computer goes “zap”, clearing out various registers. Now, if a radio is held close to the computer, it will pick up some of this energy, and at 440 times a second, will deliver a pulse to the speaker. The result is that you will hear a tone from the radio — as a matter of fact, you will hear an A.
You can read more about this program and how it operates in the original program description in
the original DECUS submission
.
Sample Transcription | 18 | 14 | [
{
"comment_id": "6548028",
"author": "Al Williams",
"timestamp": "2022-12-11T19:16:50",
"content": "Hot buttered popcorn was the news jingle for radio Canada international news back in the 1970s. Fond memories.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "65... | 1,760,372,467.17323 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2022/12/11/a-straightforward-old-fashioned-dac/ | A Straightforward Old-Fashioned DAC | Jenny List | [
"computer hacks"
] | [
"adc",
"dac",
"resistor ladder"
] | With modern microcontrollers, the process of interfacing with the analogue world is easy. Simply enable the on-board DAC or ADC, and talk to the world. If you’ve ever done this with a slightly older microprocessor, you might have encountered the DAC and ADC as chips in their own right, but how about the earliest generation of microprocessors? In those days, if an analogue component was needed, the circuit which would later be integrated on chip would have to be made from scratch. So it is that [
Florian Wilhelm Dirnberger
]
has built a very old-style 6-bit DAC
, using a circuit that would have been familiar back in the early 1970s.
At its heart are a pair of 4007 triple CMOS inverters, which form the six bits driving a resistor ladder DAC. This is simply a chair of R… 2R resistors, relying on Ohm’s law for its operation. Each successive bit contributes twice the current to the output of its predecessor, and the 4007 simply provides a buffered supply for the bits.
It’s the simplest of DACs, if not the most capable. Back in the day a typical ADC might also use this circuit, feeding a comparator alongside the input voltage. The microprocessor would count through the digital values until the comparator output bit flipped, at which point it would take the counter value as the analogue measure. You may never need to build one when your microcontroller has one built in, but it’s useful to know how simple DACs and ADCs work.
If the subject interests you,
we’ve had a look at DACs including resistor ladders used in audio
. | 33 | 18 | [
{
"comment_id": "6547860",
"author": "doragasu",
"timestamp": "2022-12-11T15:18:34",
"content": "R/2R ladder DACs are really handy. Very easy to implement, very cheap, and they do the work nicely if you do not need high quality. In my last Amstrad CPC cart, I implemented an 8-bit one just using 8 pi... | 1,760,372,467.406128 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2022/12/11/ne555-based-electronic-dice/ | NE555-Based Electronic Dice | Dave Walker | [
"classic hacks",
"Games",
"hardware",
"LED Hacks"
] | [
"555 timer",
"dice",
"die",
"hardware",
"NE555",
"pcb",
"ring oscillator",
"schmitt trigger",
"simplification"
] | It has become a bit of a running joke in the Hackaday community to suggest that a project could or should have been done with a 555 timer. [Tim] has rather taken this to heart with his
latest Electronic Dice project
, which uses three of the venerable devices.
If three seems like a lot of 555s to make an electronic die, then it may be worth considering that the last time we shared his project he was using 22 of them! Since then, [Tim] has been busy optimising his design, whilst keeping within the constraints of an old-school through-hole soldering kit.
Maybe the most surprising thing about this project is the purpose to which the NE555 devices are pressed. Rather than using them for their famous oscillation properties, they are in actual fact just being used as Schmitt Triggers to clean up the three-phase ring oscillator that is constructed from discrete transistors and passives.
Simulation trace of the three-phase ring oscillator before Scmitt Trigger stages
The ring oscillator cleverly produces three phase-shifted square waves such that a binary combination of the three phases offers six unique states. Six being the perfect number for a dice throw, all that then remains is to figure out which LEDs need to be switched on in which state and wire them up accordingly.
To “roll” the dice, a push-button powers up the oscillator, and stops it again when it is released, displaying the random end-state on the LEDs.
It can be fun to see what can be done using old technology, and educational to try to optimise a design down to the fewest parts possible.
[Tim]’s earlier project is here
if you want to see how the design has evolved. The documentation on both of these iterations is excellent and well worth a read. | 14 | 9 | [
{
"comment_id": "6547755",
"author": "YGDES",
"timestamp": "2022-12-11T12:23:50",
"content": "That’s old news, pre-Ukraine invasion era :-P",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "6547760",
"author": "shinsukke",
"timestamp": "2022-12-11T12:33:3... | 1,760,372,467.115823 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2022/12/11/fixing-and-improving-an-annoying-apartment-entry-system/ | Fixing (And Improving!) An Annoying Apartment Entry System | Donald Papp | [
"home hacks",
"how-to"
] | [
"apartment",
"door entry",
"home",
"intercom",
"IoT",
"telegram"
] | [Zak]’s two-floor apartment has a typical door entry control system, but the setup is less than ideally convenient. The wall-mounted telephone-like intercom is downstairs, but [Zak] is usually upstairs. What’s an enterprising hacker to do? Obviously the most elegant solution is to simply do without visitors in the first place, but [Zak] opted for a more full-featured solution to the problem.
The layout of the typical wall-mounted door intercom is less than ideal.
He fixed things with a custom ESP8285-based board that, with the help of opto-isolation,
allows him to detect visitors and grant entry without having to be physically present at the wall-mounted intercom
. It’s even integrated into Telegram, and has a few neat new features. Let’s take a look.
The first interesting bit is how [Zak] rolled his own opto-isolation. The door entry system uses 14 VAC and is frankly — electromagnetically-speaking — a very noisy device. Attaching GPIO pins directly to this system from the ESP board for interfacing is not an option. The solution in situations like this is to use opto-isolation, so that interfaced devices can be electrically isolated from one another.
Rather than use off-the-shelf options, [Zak] opted to keep things small and economical by rolling his own solution using side-mounted IR LEDs on the small interface PCB. LEDs can also act as photodiodes, so by pointing two LEDs directly at one another and driving one LED from the door control system and measuring the small amount of resulting current on the other LED, [Zak] can detect states without having to directly connect a GPIO pin.
One such opto-isolator works to detect the door buzz, and another works to cleverly sense and control the different states of the lock. A bit of additional work is needed to deal with the idiosyncrasies of the AC door system, but the result seems to work very well.
A Node.js application works with the board to provide integration with Telegram, which allows for groups to receive event notifications, and frees the system from being location-bound to the apartment.
As for improvements, there’s even an auto-unlock feature to automatically unlock the door if the buzzer is pressed within 5 minutes, which [Zak] finds very handy for the times he’s carrying up a load of groceries and doesn’t want to fumble around with keys.
We’ve previously seen [Zak] give things the IoT treatment, and the results are always impressive. Check out
his battery-sipping mailbox notifier
for a great example of making everyday tasks more efficient. | 7 | 5 | [
{
"comment_id": "6548008",
"author": "mh",
"timestamp": "2022-12-11T18:48:20",
"content": "Sounds like an idea for a startup company…likehttps://www.nello.io/Could be an interesting experience – you could e.g. go bankrupthttps://medium.com/@christophbaumeister/why-nello-failed-bd5df7c2b0fband then b... | 1,760,372,466.917127 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2022/12/10/a-vm-in-an-ai/ | A VM In An AI | Jenny List | [
"Artificial Intelligence"
] | [
"ai",
"ChatGPT",
"linux"
] | AI knoweth everything, and as each new model breaks upon the world, it attracts a new crowd of experimenters. The new hotness is ChatGPT, and [Jonas Degrave] has turned his attention to it. By asking it to act as a Linux terminal, he discovered that he could gain access to
a complete Linux virtual machine within the model’s synthetic imagination
.
The AI’s first response was a prompt, so he of course first tried to list the files. Up came a list of directories, so the next step was to create a file and put some text in it. All of this resulted in a readable file, so there was some promise in this unexpected computing resource. But can it run code?
Further testing found that the AI could run shell scripts and even load and run a simple Docker instance. Can it talk to the Internet? Seems so, as it can ping the BBC. But then interrogating a version number of a Python project on GitHub reveals that this isn’t quite the computer you might think it is. The version number returned is from back in the summer when the model was trained, so it’s simply doing a good job of creating the illusion of an Internet-connected machine.
Things get truly surreal when lynx and curl are used to look on the web. With a bit of JSON, magic it seems ChatGPT can find itself, and submit questions to itself. The final party piece is to repeat the original question and ask it to create a Linux prompt, inside an alternate Internet in a Linux prompt on itself.
It’s clear that this is not a real Linux system but an AI creating the illusion of one based on what its model contains, but we salute [Jonas] for taking this entertaining dive. We wonder how long it will be before some joker manages to get it running a fake cryptocurrency miner.
This type of AI is an impressive technology which will doubtless deliver some amazing new products. But
don’t fall too much for the hype and put it on a pedestal, please
. | 41 | 15 | [
{
"comment_id": "6547512",
"author": "Artenz",
"timestamp": "2022-12-11T06:17:32",
"content": "The beginnings of a new revolution…",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "6548297",
"author": "What is 3 + 3?",
"timestamp": "2022-12-12T0... | 1,760,372,466.997684 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2022/12/13/roll-your-own-wifi-driver-for-the-pico-w/ | Roll Your Own WiFi Driver For The Pico W | Matthew Carlson | [
"Raspberry Pi",
"Wireless Hacks"
] | [
"bare metal",
"Pi Pico W",
"picowi"
] | The Raspberry Pi Pico is a handy little microcontroller that has become a widespread addition to many hackers’ workbench. The Pico W has a CYW4342W module (just like the Pi Zero W) to add WiFi capabilities and [Jeremy Bentham]
ported his bare-metal WiFi driver to the Pico W
.
The CYW43438 is an SDIO interface, so most of the code ported over from his Zerowi project, but there were a few notable tweaks along the way. Given that the Pi Pico SDK has the complete source code to drive the CYW43439 with an open source TCP/IP stack (lwIP) and the datasheets from Infineon are pretty detailed, why create your own driver?
The short answer is…because why not. But a second answer is to tweak it just how you like it. With his own implementation, [Jeremy] can focus on maximizing throughput and making WiFi a little easier to debug. He deeply delves into the hardware, scope traces, and code samples. It’s a tremendous five-part read over lunch. Some highlights include writing some code for the PIO (Programmable I/O) to interface with the SPI interface, bank switching in the WiFi RAM, handling the 140 different events, connecting to a network, and sending pings.
The PicoWi
code is available on GitHub
. Perhaps it can be
integrated with this PCMIA interface
to offer outstanding performance to an older laptop. | 28 | 3 | [
{
"comment_id": "6549649",
"author": "Stuart Longland",
"timestamp": "2022-12-13T12:21:37",
"content": "https://hackaday.com/2022/06/30/raspberry-pi-pico-w-adds-wireless/#div-comment-6488126suggests a good reason for rolling your own — dodging the alleged lawyerbomb, since Jeremy’s code is MIT-licen... | 1,760,372,467.061489 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2022/12/13/a-concealed-model-railway-rises-to-the-occasion/ | A Concealed Model Railway Rises To The Occasion | Jenny List | [
"Toy Hacks"
] | [
"model railroad",
"model railway",
"model train",
"N-gauge"
] | Occasional pieces of furniture serve little purpose other than to fill a space and maybe display a prized ornament or two. Who hasn’t got a relative with one two many small tables or display stands overfilling the available space!
If you visit [Peter Waldraff]’s house though, those pieces of furniture may not be what they seem.
His display pedestal for example hides an N gauge railway layout
that rises from the depths on a system of pulleys, with the action triggered by moving the vase displayed on its top. The vase conceals a magnet, which operates a reed switch that in turn controls the winch motor.
The layout is a loosely
Batman
themed train chase, with concentric spirals of track forming a continuous loop on which two trains run. There’s an ingenious arrangement with a reed switch and a piece of dead track to ensure that the chasing train is always held to ensure a gap between them. The landscaping is of a set of cliffs with a model of Wayne manor at the top, and there’s even a LED-lit Batmobile. One of the locomotives is recognisably based on a character from the
Thomas the Tank Engine
books.
All in all we like the ingenuity of this layout, but if you like it too then we’ve got a treat for you. Sharp-eyed readers will remember that
this isn’t the first such project from Peter
. | 5 | 3 | [
{
"comment_id": "6549619",
"author": "James",
"timestamp": "2022-12-13T11:43:31",
"content": "Thomas looks a bit like the The Joker in Batman.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "6549656",
"author": "BT",
"timestamp": "2022-12-13T1... | 1,760,372,467.336719 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2022/12/12/interesting-optical-journey-results-in-hybrid-viewfinder-for-smartphones/ | Interesting Optical Journey Results In Hybrid Viewfinder For Smartphones | Dan Maloney | [
"digital cameras hacks"
] | [
"beamsplitter",
"hybrid",
"lens",
"optical",
"optics",
"viewfinder"
] | Fair warning: if you ever thought there was nothing particularly interesting with optical viewfinders, prepare to have your misconception corrected by [volzo] with
this deep-dive into camera-aiming aids that leads to an interesting hybrid smartphone viewfinder
.
For most of us, the traditional optical viewfinder is very much a thing of the past, having been supplanted by digital cameras and LCD displays. But some people still want to frame a photograph the old-fashioned way, and the optical principles that make that possible are actually a lot more complicated than they seem. [volzo]’s blog post and video go into a great deal of detail on viewfinder optics, so feel free to fall down that rabbit hole — it’s worth the trip. But if you’d rather cut to the chase, the actual viewfinder build starts at about the 23:00 mark in the video.
The design is an interesting combination of lenses and beamsplitters that live in a 3D-printed enclosure. The whole thing slips over one end of a smartphone and combines an optical view of the scene that corresponds to the camera’s field of view with a small digital overlay from the phone’s screen. The overlay is quite simple: just some framing gridlines and a tilt indicator that’s generated by a little Android app. But it’s clear that much more information could be added now that [volzo] has all the optical issues sorted out.
We appreciate this deep dive into something that appears to be mundane and outdated, which actually proves to be non-obvious and pretty interesting. And if you have any doubt about the extreme cleverness of the camera engineers of yore, look no further than
this sort-of solar-powered camera from the 1960s
. | 5 | 3 | [
{
"comment_id": "6549838",
"author": "echodelta",
"timestamp": "2022-12-13T17:33:58",
"content": "I remember my uncle’s fancy camera with two lenses, one just for the view finder. Whew, twice the cost.What every phone camera needs that is worth 3D printing is a 2 hands on 2 handles with a button to ... | 1,760,372,467.297851 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2022/12/12/travel-uke-from-a-fallen-tree/ | Travel Uke From A Fallen Tree | Navarre Bartz | [
"Musical Hacks"
] | [
"lutherie",
"luthier",
"luthiery",
"string instrument",
"travel instrument",
"travel uke",
"travel ukelele",
"uke",
"ukelele",
"woodworking"
] | When faced with what to build from the trimmings of the walnut tree in her yard, [Amy Qian] decided to build a
headless travel ukulele
. [
via MAKE:
]
Headless instruments relocate the tuners to the body of the instrument, and [Qian] had to do a fair bit of trimming and whittling on the body to make the tuners fit just right and still be operable via four scoops cut into the sides. After some initial troubles with the amount of friction on the strings produced by the mandrel, she replaced it with a set of
ball bearings and a holder
she machined out of aluminum.
We love how [Qian]’s extensive build log goes through the entire process of making this diminutive instrument from trimming dead walnut branches to building a playable instrument. Little details like the maple strip in the neck and the cocobolo accents really take this far beyond the cigar box instruments that start many down the path of luthiery.
Looking for more musical hacks? How about this set of
Commodore 64s turned into an accordion
or this
Baguette Theremin
? | 6 | 5 | [
{
"comment_id": "6549374",
"author": "TG",
"timestamp": "2022-12-13T04:47:33",
"content": "Wow. End result is marvelous, very nice wood choices. I love seeing true craftsmen finish their woodwork, it’s so satisfying. Just need a video showing how it sounds! Keep it away from the TSA :)",
"parent... | 1,760,372,467.448905 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2022/12/12/serial-cistercian-digit-module/ | Serial Cistercian Digit Module | Matthew Carlson | [
"LED Hacks",
"Peripherals Hacks"
] | [
"31-segment display",
"Cistercian",
"LED display",
"RGB LEDs"
] | There’s no doubt that the 7-segment display is a gold standard for displaying lighted digits. But what about a throwback to an older system of displaying numbers — Cistercian? With thirty-one 0805 LEDs, [Josue Alejandro] made a
simple module displaying a single Cistercian digit
(any from 0-9999).
The first iteration used castellated edges and required a significant number of GPIO, so on the next rev, he switched to a serial-to-parallel converted from Lumissil (IS31FL3726A). A diffuser and spacer were printed from PLA and made for an incredibly snazzy-looking package.
Of course, it couldn’t stop there, and a third revision was made that uses SK6812 Neopixels, allowing full RGB capability. All the design documents, layout files, and incredibly detailed drawings
are available on GitHub
. What makes this incredibly handy is having a module you can easily add to a project. Perhaps even as a component in
an escape room in a box
that would allow you to flash multiple numbers. Or perhaps
as a stylish clock
. We’d even go so far as to challenge someone to create a calculator by combining several of these modules
with this keypad
. | 11 | 6 | [
{
"comment_id": "6549290",
"author": "PWalsh",
"timestamp": "2022-12-13T02:19:17",
"content": "That’d look really nice on a predator wrist computer replica. Just sayin’",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "6549299",
"author": "Andrew",
"times... | 1,760,372,467.492828 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2022/12/12/esp32-projects-from-northwestern-universitys-embedded-electronics-class/ | ESP32 Projects From Northwestern University’s Embedded Electronics Class | Michael Shaub | [
"Microcontrollers"
] | [
"ESP32",
"espressif",
"microcontroller"
] | Northwestern University’s Embedded Electronics Class delivered a bumper crop of ESP-32 projects this year. The student teams recorded their progress on hackaday.io with project descriptions, logs, BOMs, diagrams, photos, and videos to share with other makers. While all utilized the web connection that the ESP32 offers some teams chose to use ESP32 Cams to incorporate photos, video, and computer vision. We love the variety of projects the teams created, some customized versions of consumer products and others new types of smart-devices.
The
Polterchime Smart Doorbell
project recreates a basic video doorbell. With the help of a separate web server, the ESP-32Cam delivers streaming video, an archive of captured images, and a speaker to play back prerecorded sound files. See their video presentation for more details on the user research they used in the design process.
Bright Bulb
seems like a simple copy of a color changing LED bulb, but features a nice custom board for the ESP32 and neopixel LED and an ESP-NOW networked remote ambient light & motion sensor. That runs on, you guessed it another ESP-32, but with battery power relies on deep-sleep to achieve reasonable run times.
The
Mimic Robot Arm
lives up to its name not by looking like a real human arm, but by using EMG sensors to pick up muscle activity, mimics the movements of an the operator’s arm.
And finally,
Dum-E Smart Sentry
uses a whole pile of ESP32 Cams to give panoramic surveillance and a pan/tilt mechanism to train another camera directly on anyone who approaches.
Want to be healthier and live longer to read more Hackaday? One of the teams created a
SmartScale
to weigh and snap a photo of the food placed on it, using machine vision to deliver automated nutrition information from a food database (most of the time). See the video of this project in action after the break, and the other project pages for more.
We appreciate the documentation the teams gave their projects, there’s enough to dedicate an article to each one, and are happy to see newly minted hackers diving right in to programming, working with electronics, 3D printing and sharing what they learned and made with all of us on hackaday.io. Thanks for the tip about your students, [Ilya]! | 4 | 4 | [
{
"comment_id": "6549203",
"author": "The Commenter Formerly Known As Ren",
"timestamp": "2022-12-12T23:51:28",
"content": "Congratulations students!",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "6549311",
"author": "craig",
"timestamp": "2022-12-13T0... | 1,760,372,467.534946 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2022/12/12/battery-engineering-hack-chat/ | Battery Engineering Hack Chat | Dan Maloney | [
"Hackaday Columns",
"Slider"
] | [
"Hack Chat"
] | Join us on Wednesday, December 14 at noon Pacific for the
Battery Engineering Hack Chat
with Dave Sopchak!
Of all the things driving technology forward, you’d have to say that the ability of chip makers to squeeze more complex circuits than ever onto silicon has to rank right up there. And while that’s no doubt true, it only tells a part of the story. For our money, though, the advancements in battery technology over the last 30 years or so are the real champ, because without compact, cheap, energy-dense batteries, almost none of the cool stuff we see today, from smartphones to electric vehicles, would be practical.
Battery technology has come a long way from the days when carbon-zinc and nickel-cadmium cells were kings. New chemistries, better materials and methods, and engineering improvements have all contributed to incredibly powerful, incredibly compact batteries that make applications nobody could have thought of just a few decades ago possible.
Dave Sopchak has been in the thick of battery engineering since taking a doctorate in electrochemistry from Case Western Reserve. Since then he has worked at several fuel cell start-ups, and is now working on a lithium-air battery that sounds really interesting. We’ve asked him to help us wrap up the 2022 Hack Chat series with a discussion on battery engineering, with a focus on upcoming technologies and advancements that could really put some power in your pocket.
Our Hack Chats are live community events in the
Hackaday.io Hack Chat group messaging
. This week we’ll be sitting down on Wednesday, December 14 at 12:00 PM Pacific time. If time zones have you tied up, we have a
handy time zone converter
. | 7 | 2 | [
{
"comment_id": "6549133",
"author": "rtyhj5r6yj",
"timestamp": "2022-12-12T22:04:59",
"content": "Please tell me why I cant send power to batery from battery",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "6549261",
"author": "battery charging enthus... | 1,760,372,467.574892 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2022/12/12/students-rebel-against-heat-sensing-crotch-monitor-surveillance-devices/ | Students Rebel Against Heat-Sensing Crotch Monitor Surveillance Devices | Lewin Day | [
"Hackaday Columns",
"Rants",
"Security Hacks",
"Slider"
] | [
"desk sensor",
"occupancy sensor",
"sensors",
"surveil",
"surveillance"
] | Surveillance has become a ubiquitous part of modern life. Public spaces are dotted with CCTV cameras inside and out. Recent years have seen the technology spread to the suburbs with porch cameras spreading the eye of big tech and law enforcement ever further.
Outside of mere cameras, companies are rushing to develop all manner of new devices to surveil individuals, too. One such device intended to track students quickly drew the ire of scholars at Northeastern University,
and the cohort fought back.
Are You There?
The devices in question were part of an “occupancy monitoring system” developed by Spaceti, a company which specializes in maximizing efficiency for commercial buildings. The university installed a series of heat sensors under desks aimed roughly at crotch height, intended to detect when a human (or other suitably warm object) was sitting at a desk.
Notably, the sensors were installed overnight without notifying affected students, and without their consent. This happened in Northeastern University’s Interdisciplinary Science & Engineering Complex (ISEC), home to the Cybersecurity and Privacy Institute. As you might expect, graduate students working in this field are keenly attuned to spotting aberrant hardware that mysteriously shows up overnight. They were also rather perturbed to learn they were suddenly being surveilled.
The matter was quickly taken up with university administration, which indicated the sensors were to be used for a study on desk utilization in the facility. Following explanations and meetings held with the student body did little to assuage concerns around the new technology. Revelations that the university had not sought ethics approval for the study caused outrage, as did the sudden surprise arrival of the sensors themselves. Administrators attempted to make a case that the study did not need ethics approval, as the sensors tracked “heat” rather than humans. The excuse held little water among the security-aware graduate students at the university.
For now, the sensors have found a new home, as a public art piece on the floor of the
#ISEC
lobby. In the spirit of
#ISEC
, this is an interdisciplinary work, with contributions from surveilled graduate students in a myriad of departments.
(9 of N).
pic.twitter.com/NMqMFrJMuM
— Max von Hippel 🌻 (@maxvonhippel)
October 6, 2022
Sensors were removed en masse, with several assembled into a large “NO!” sign in the building lobby. Others were hacked by researchers at the university, or simply discarded. The student base shortly submitted an open letter asking for the sensors to be removed permanently. The basis was that the sensors were intimidating to students and installed without proper approval from the university’s ethical review board. Further questions were raised over the necessity of the sensors, given the university could already monitor usage of facilities via its swipe card access control system. Eventually, the university relented, and the sensors were removed.
Desk sensors have often been cited as a key tool to improve office efficiency in terms of spatial use and environmental control. However, the technology has regularly come under fire from the public, as shown by this statement from OccupEye in 2016. Credit: OccupEye.com/Wayback Machine, March 05 2016
It’s not the first time desk occupancy sensors have drawn the ire of those they intend to surveil. In 2016,
The Daily Telegraph
installed similar sensors from OccupEye
under the desks of its journalists, advertising, and commercial staff
. Deploying surveillance equipment against security researchers could be said to be foolhardy, given they’lll likely hack and dismantle it. Similarly, deploying it against journalists was always going to end up causing a very public stir. And it did! Backlash was swift, with the story quickly making headlines in
several outlets.
The sensors were removed in short order after that.
Both stories highlight an interesting point. Few rail against the pervasive CCTV that is present in almost every workplace today. If so desired, most employers could readily track their staff’s every movement via recorded video. However, it seems there is something that humans find uniquely perverse and offensive about under-desk sensors. The idea of a “watching” device lurking in the vicinity of one’s crotch is distinctly unwelcome to most. This is even despite the fact that such sensors merely detect presence rather than recording any visual data.
There’s also a very personal angle to the data collected. A CCTV system may record what employees do, but it typically requires a lot of personal human attention to actually use such a system to follow one person and record their activities. In contrast, a network of desk occupancy sensors can very easily record and log the comings and goings of each individual employee. This data could then readily be used for disciplinary purposes or to rank employees for their so-called “dedication” to the company.
There’s also something to be said for proximity. We largely accept the CCTV cameras that live up in the corners of the ceiling, barely giving them a passing thought. Put a surveillance camera on every worker’s desk, though, and you could expect a revolt before you were done running the cabling.
Overall, the story from Northeastern University should serve as a cautionary tale for any companies or administrators involved in such rollouts. People don’t like being watched, and they
really
don’t like sensors aimed directly at the groin. They find it even more offensive when such sensors are installed without their knowledge or permission. A public consultation would likely have revealed these issues up front, and saved the university a great deal of money, embarrassment, and frustration. After all, doing unwelcome things by stealth only tends to inflame people’s anger further. | 180 | 34 | [
{
"comment_id": "6548964",
"author": "Rowena",
"timestamp": "2022-12-12T18:33:19",
"content": "Is this April 1st ?News for y’all, the horse named “expectation-of-privacy” already left the barn a long time ago.When folks *willingly* and in fact *demand* certain “modern conveniences”, one looks at the... | 1,760,372,468.10248 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2022/12/12/laser-cutting-a-flurry-of-generative-snowflakes/ | Laser-Cutting A Flurry Of Generative Snowflakes | Abe Connelly | [
"Art",
"Laser Hacks"
] | [
"generative art",
"javascript",
"laser cutter",
"ornament",
"snowflake",
"web app",
"web application"
] | It’s the holiday season, and what better way to celebrate than to carve out some generative snowflakes on your laser cutter? [Bleeptrack] has developed a
web-based tool
that creates generative snowflake ornaments which can be exported to SVG files ready-made for laser or vinyl cutting.
True to their namesake, each generated snowflake ornament is (very likely to be) unique, with multiple layers created that can be stacked on top of each other. [Bleeptrack] has showcased a few realizations, using semitransparent paper sandwiched between two top layer cutouts, made out of wood or cardboard.
The snowflakes are a great balance of minimal design while still being beautiful and rich in detail. They can be easily produced on any laser cutter or vinyl cutter that you might have handy. Source code is available on
GitHub
for those wanting to dive into the details of the web tool. Cutting one of your own would make a perfect addition to a
Neodriver ornament
or a tiny
DOOM
playing ornament
. Video after the break! | 5 | 2 | [
{
"comment_id": "6548914",
"author": "bleeptrack",
"timestamp": "2022-12-12T17:26:41",
"content": "Ohey, I did not anticipate to be featured on hackaday! Thanks a lot for that! I also just published a little video about the generator and cutting process if you want to take a look:https://youtu.be/-W... | 1,760,372,467.753086 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2022/12/12/nasa-aces-artemis-i-but-the-journey-has-just-begun/ | NASA Aces Artemis I, But The Journey Has Just Begun | Tom Nardi | [
"Current Events",
"Featured",
"Original Art",
"Slider",
"Space"
] | [
"apollo",
"Artemis I",
"artemis program",
"deep space",
"lunar exploration",
"orion",
"sls"
] | When NASA’s
Orion capsule splashed down in the Pacific Ocean yesterday afternoon
, it marked the end of a journey that started decades ago. The origins of the Orion capsule can be tracked back to a Lockheed Martin proposal from the early 2000s, and development of the towering Space Launch System rocket that sent it on its historic trip around the Moon started back in 2011 — although few at the time could have imagined that’s what it would end up being used for. The intended mission for the incredibly powerful Shuttle-derived rocket changed so many times over the years that for a time it was referred to as the “Rocket to Nowhere”, as it appeared the agency couldn’t decide just where they wanted to send their flagship exploration vehicle.
But today, for perhaps the first time, the future of the SLS and Orion seem bright. The Artemis I mission wasn’t just a technical success by about pretty much every metric you’d care to use, it was also a public relations boon the likes of which NASA has rarely seen outside the dramatic landings of their Mars rovers. Tens of millions of people watched the unmanned mission blast off towards the Moon, a prelude to the global excitement that will surround the crewed follow-up flight currently scheduled for 2024.
As NASA’s commentators reminded viewers during the live streamed segments of the nearly 26-day long mission around the Moon, the test flight officially ushered in what the space agency is calling the
Artemis Generation
, a new era of lunar exploration that picks up where the Apollo left off. Rather than occasional hasty visits to its beautiful desolation, Artemis aims to lay the groundwork for a permanent human presence on our natural satellite.
With the successful conclusion of the Artemis I, NASA has now demonstrated effectively two-thirds of the hardware and techniques required to return humans to the surface of the Moon: SLS proved it has the power to send heavy payloads beyond low Earth orbit, and the long-duration flight Orion took around our nearest celestial neighbor ensured it’s more than up to the task of ferrying human explorers on a shorter and more direct route.
But of course, it would be unreasonable to expect the first flight of such a complex vehicle to go off without a hitch. While the primary mission goals were all accomplished, and the architecture generally met or exceeded pre-launch expectations, there’s still plenty of work to be done before NASA is ready for Artemis II.
Taming the SLS
The idea behind the SLS was to use flight-proven hardware from the Space Shuttle, namely the RS-25 engines and solid rocket boosters (SRBs), as a time and cost saving measure. Unfortunately,
much like the dreams of rapid reusability for the Shuttle itself
, the reality of the situation ended up being considerably more complicated. While the SLS engines and boosters started their lives as Shuttle parts, their final form was different enough that it took years of testing and research to be sure the numerous modifications made to the legacy hardware would work as expected.
These delays extended right up to the launch itself, which was held back several times due to technical issues. Of particular note were the difficulties experienced when loading propellants onto the vehicle, which ranged from numerous leaks to jammed valves. These delays became increasingly worrisome, as some components of the rocket were only rated to remain viable for a certain amount of time. If the rocket didn’t launch before the end of the year, some key components would have to be pulled off, examined, and potentially replaced — further delaying the mission.
Artemis I clears the tower. Photo Credit:
NASA/Joel Kowsky
Ultimately, after several trips to and from the pad, the issues were resolved and the SLS roared skyward from Launch Complex 39B on November 16th at 1:37 Eastern Time. The launch was spectacular by all accounts, as the world’s most powerful operational rocket briefly turned night into day over the Florida coast.
Of course, such teething issues with a new rocket design are hardly unexpected, and the knowledge gained during this launch will surely help streamline ground operations during Artemis II. But those weren’t the only issues ground teams ran into — it turns out that the exhaust from the SLS did considerable damage to the launch pad, including blowing the doors off the crew elevators.
Luckily, there’s plenty of time to make repairs. It will be at least a year and half before another SLS lifts off from Complex 39B, and by then they will likely have found ways to strengthen the parts of the pad that were hit the hardest. What’s important is that the oft-maligned megarocket performed perfectly, with a
deviation of less than 0.3% from NASA’s projections
.
Hampered Hitchhikers
As we reported earlier
, ten CubeSats were packed inside the stage adapter that connected the Interim Cryogenic Propulsion Stage (ICPS) to the Orion capsule. After the capsule moved a safe distance away, these independent spacecraft were automatically dispensed so they could continue on with their own missions. At least, that was the idea.
Between the relatively fragile nature of the CubeSats, and the fact that some of them could not have their batteries charged once they were installed in the rocket, it was always unlikely that all of the craft would survive. At the time of this writing,
six
seven of the ten CubeSats packed away on Artemis I are currently operational, and unfortunately some of the most ambitious missions are among the casualties.
NEA Scout with solar sail deployed
Japan’s OMOTENASHI was designed to demonstrate the ability to land small scientific payloads on the lunar surface at extreme low cost, but mission controllers were unable to establish stable communications with the craft after it separated from the ICPS.
It’s believed the CubeSat failed to orient its solar panels properly, and thus was unable to charge its batteries. If this is the case, there may still be a chance to reestablish contact with the craft at a later date as it travels through deep space, but the window to make a lunar landing has already past.
NASA’s own Near-Earth Asteroid Scout (NEA Scout) was sadly a complete failure, as ground controllers were never able to establish communication with the craft. An emergency signal was transmitted which should have triggered the deployment of the CubeSat’s 85 m
2
(910 sq ft) solar sail, but telescope observations confirmed it was never unfurled. It’s also being reported that ground controllers have lost communications with the
CubeSat to Study Solar Particles (CuSP)
and Team Miles spacecraft.
Update:
As of December 9th, ground stations have
picked up a signal from the Team Miles CubeSat
.
While the loss of these missions is disappointing, surviving craft such as the Italian Space Agency’s ArgoMoon demonstrator, Japan’s EQUULEUS, and NASA’s BioSentinel promise to deliver fascinating data in the coming months.
Orion’s Trial by Fire
As the Orion capsule already performed a successful demonstration flight back in 2014 as part of the Exploration Flight Test-1, NASA was already fairly confident in the capabilities of their latest human-rated spacecraft. But there was still one component of the system that hadn’t quite been put through its paces: the heat shield.
During the 2014 orbital test, Orion reentered the Earth’s atmosphere at approximately 8.9 km/s (20,000 mph), which resulted in the heat shield being exposed to temperatures as high as 2,200 °C (4,000 °F). But as it was returning from a far higher orbit for Artemis I, the reentry velocity was significantly increased. This time around the ablative material on the bottom of the capsule, known as Avcoat, was heated to 2,800 °C (5,000 °F) while hitting the atmosphere at 11.2 km/s (25,000 mph).
In addition,
NASA also used Artemis I to test a new “skip maneuver” during entry
. Rather than simply plowing through the atmosphere like the Space Shuttle did, this approach sees the capsule literally bounce off the upper atmosphere to kill off some of its initial velocity, before settling back down for a second reentry event. The advantage of this approach is that it not only reduces the g-forces experienced by the crew, but allows for greater accuracy during splashdown. Artemis crews will end their missions closer to the coast of the United States than their Apollo predecessors, which will allow for more rapid recovery operations.
Diving into the Data
Obviously, the fact that the Orion capsule traveled around the Moon and returned safely to Earth means the Artemis I mission was an overall success. But there’s still an incredible amount of data that needs to be analyzed before engineers will really know how the vehicle performed and where improvements can be made. There’s also data from scientific experiments aboard the craft, such as the
sensor-laden manikin sitting in the commander’s seat
, that so far NASA hasn’t commented on. As we move from the quick visits of Apollo to the long-duration stays of later Artemis missions, information on how the deep space environment impacts the human body will be critical.
So while today the folks at NASA are likely taking a well deserved break to celebrate the return of Orion and the completion of the first official Artemis mission, their work is far from over. Expect to see many announcements and reports released throughout 2023 as engineering teams make sense of the terabytes worth of information that was collected during this unprecedented deep space flight. We’re excited by the promise of the Artemis Generation, and can’t wait to see what discoveries lie over the horizon. | 51 | 8 | [
{
"comment_id": "6548849",
"author": "Don Smith",
"timestamp": "2022-12-12T15:41:20",
"content": "Team Miles is just getting started.Dec 9th:https://twitter.com/MilesSpace/status/1601424119085805568Happy to note that the Team Miles cubesat is alive and sending radio signals. NASA ground stations wil... | 1,760,372,467.884328 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2022/12/12/getting-root-on-a-chinese-ip-camera/ | Getting Root On A Chinese IP Camera | Maya Posch | [
"Linux Hacks",
"Reverse Engineering"
] | [
"reverse engineering",
"root access",
"XM530"
] | With so many cheap network-connected devices out there being Linux-powered, it’s very tempting to try and hack into them, usually via a serial interface. This was the goal of [Andrzej Szombierski] when he purchased a cheap Chinese IP camera using an XM530 ARM-based SoC
to explore
and ultimately
get root access
on. This camera’s firmware provides the usual web interface on its network side, but it also has a UART on its PCB, courtesy of the unpopulated four-pin header.
Merely firing up a serial terminal application and connecting to this UART is not enough to get access, of course. The first obstacle that [Andrzej] struggled with was that U-Boot was configured to not output Linux kernel boot messages. After tackling that issue with some creative hacking, the next challenge was to figure out the root password, using a dump of the firmware image, which led to even more exploration of the firmware and the encoding used for the root password.
Even if some part of these challenges were possibly more accidental than on purpose by the manufacturer, it shows how these SoC-based Linux devices can put up quite a fight. This then leaves the next question, of what to do with such an IP camera after you have gained root access? | 67 | 20 | [
{
"comment_id": "6548706",
"author": "RetepV",
"timestamp": "2022-12-12T12:20:01",
"content": "> This then leaves the next question, of what to do with such an IP camera after you have gained root access?Well, for one: cut out the middle man, so that your stream is finally only accessible by yoursel... | 1,760,372,468.20117 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2022/12/12/cga-competitors-from-the-1980s/ | CGA Competitors From The 1980s | Chris Lott | [
"Retrocomputing",
"Video Hacks"
] | [
"cga",
"ega",
"video card"
] | [David Murray], aka The 8-Bit Guy,
did an interesting video
(embedded below the break) on the time line of PC graphics cards from CGA through to EGA. Not only does he explain the different offerings of the day, but also proceeds to demonstrate most of them.
It’s interesting to learn about some of the video modes that went basically unused in these cards. Even if board designers include high resolution modes and better color palettes, if software programmers don’t use them they are forgotten.
We were particularly impressed by a couple of examples he had that were full-sized, double-stacked ISA cards — those were beasts. Both CGA and EGA sort of withered when the 1990s arrived.
According to [David]’s research, CGA monitors continued to be used for some time even after EGA was introduced — primarily because of cost. It might cost you $400 to get an ATI EGA Wonder card, and that or more for an EGA monitor. Many folks just upgraded the card first, and took advantage of the fact that the EGA Wonder could drive CGA monitors.
If you are interested in the history and technology of these old cards, check out
our coverage from 2016
where [David] does a deep dive into CGA cards and discusses, among other things, the CGA composite video mode. | 25 | 10 | [
{
"comment_id": "6548589",
"author": "L",
"timestamp": "2022-12-12T09:10:38",
"content": "Ah the M24. I wrote a charting program for that and got a prize in high-school, by writing my own graphics driver. It also had a graphics mode that was not documented, but you could figure it out by reading the... | 1,760,372,468.418757 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2022/12/11/laser-projector-needs-hardware-hack-after-software-mod/ | Laser Projector Needs Hardware Hack After Software Mod | Robin Kearey | [
"Laser Hacks",
"Repair Hacks"
] | [
"bricked",
"firmware hack",
"laser projector",
"RGB laser"
] | You probably recognize that dreadful feeling when you reboot a gadget after updating its firmware, only to be greeted by a blank screen and an unresponsive device. This apparently happened to the previous owner of
a bricked RGB laser projector that [Buy It Fix It] got his hands on
: it briefly flashed its laser on power-up but otherwise remained completely dead.
A thorough inspection of the major components didn’t reveal any physical damage, so the issue had to be in software. [Buy It Fix It] managed to connect his Segger J-link programmer to the STM32 main processor and downloaded the contents of its firmware, only to find the remains of a PDF file which seemed to have been accidentally flashed into the chip’s program space. Fixing the device should then just be a matter of restoring the proper firmware, but [Buy It Fix It] wasn’t able to find a copy of it anywhere.
What he did find was
Maximus64’s GitHub repository
that contained a software mod for a different projector model, as well as its original firmware. Flashing that version didn’t fix [Buy It Fix It]’s projector either, although it did now start to actuate its galvos.
A bit of reverse engineering revealed that the two projectors were very similar from a hardware point of view, but had their laser drivers hooked up to different I/O pins: simply cutting the board traces and soldering some wires to re-route the signals was enough to bring the projector back into a working state.
Having to modify hardware in order to make it fit a piece of software is unfortunate, but sometimes you just have to make do with what you’ve got. If you’ve got no firmware to begin with, then you might even have to
write your own from scratch
. | 13 | 5 | [
{
"comment_id": "6548494",
"author": "stappers",
"timestamp": "2022-12-12T06:25:13",
"content": "Nice hack",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "6548623",
"author": "Stuart Longland",
"timestamp": "2022-12-12T10:04:39",
"content": "I guess... | 1,760,372,468.252501 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2022/12/11/see-what-youre-in-for-when-buying-and-moving-a-lathe/ | See What You’re In For When Buying And Moving A Lathe | Donald Papp | [
"News",
"Tool Hacks"
] | [
"dolly",
"heavy",
"hoist",
"lathe",
"machine tools",
"moving"
] | Sometimes, with patience and luck, one can score a sweet deal on machinery. But for tools that weigh many hundreds of pounds? Buying it is only the beginning of the story. [Ben Katz] recently got a lathe and shared a peek at what was involved in
moving a small (but still roughly 800 pound) Clausing 4901 lathe into its new home
and getting it operational.
The lathe had sat unused in a basement, but was ready for a new home.
Moving such a stout piece of equipment cannot simply be done by recruiting a few friends and remembering to lift with the legs. This kind of machinery cannot be moved and handled except with the help of other machines, so [Ben] and friends used an engine hoist with a heavy-duty dolly to get it out of the basement it was in, and into the bed of a pickup truck. Separating the lathe from its base helped, as did the fact that the basement had a ground-level egress door which meant no stairs needed to be involved.
One also has to consider the machine’s ultimate destination, because not all floors or locations can handle nearly a thousand pounds of lathe sitting on them. In [Ben]’s case, that also meant avoiding a section of floor with a maintenance trapdoor when moving the lathe into the house. Scouting and knowing these things ahead of time can be the difference between celebratory pizza and deep dish disaster. Pre-move preparation also includes ensuring everything can physically fit through the necessary doorways ahead of time; a task that, if ignored, will eventually explain itself.
With that all sorted out, [Ben] dives into cleaning things up, doing function checks, and in general getting the lathe up and running. He provides some fantastic photos and details of this process, including shots of the 70s-era documentation and part diagrams.
Watch the first chips fly in the short video embedded below. And should you be looking at getting a lathe of your own? Check out
our very own buyer’s guide to lathe options
. | 46 | 15 | [
{
"comment_id": "6548378",
"author": "The Commenter Formerly Known As Ren",
"timestamp": "2022-12-12T03:20:28",
"content": "A lathe is like a boat. You’re most happy on the days when you buy it and when you finally sell it.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"c... | 1,760,372,468.504777 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2022/12/09/ultimate-game-and-watch-has-support-for-nes/ | Ultimate Game And Watch Has Support For NES | Bryan Cockfield | [
"Games"
] | [
"3d printed",
"case",
"emulator",
"game and watch",
"game boy",
"nes",
"nintendo",
"raspberry pi",
"retro",
"screen"
] | We’ve talked about feature creep plenty of times around here, and it’s generally regarded as something to be avoided when designing a prototype. It might sound good to have a lot of features in a build, but this often results in more complexity and more difficulty when actually bringing a project to fruition. [Brendan] has had the opposite experience
with this custom handheld originally designed for Game and Watch games
, though, and he eventually added NES and Game Boy functionality as well.
As this build was originally intended just for Game and Watch games, the screen is about the size of these old games, and while it can easily mimic the monochrome LCD-style video that would have been present on these 80s handhelds, it also has support for color which means that it’s the perfect candidate for emulating other consoles as well. It’s based around a Raspberry Pi Zero 2W and the enclosure is custom printed and painted. Some workarounds for audio had to be figured out, though, since native analog output isn’t supported, but it still has almost every feature for all of these systems.
While we’ve seen plenty of custom portable builds from everything from retro consoles to more modern ones, the Game and Watch catalog is often overlooked.
There are a few out there
, but in this case we appreciate the feature creep that allowed this build to support Game Boy and NES games as well. | 2 | 1 | [
{
"comment_id": "6546818",
"author": "The Commenter Formerly Known As Ren",
"timestamp": "2022-12-10T15:07:14",
"content": "Strapped to one’s wrist, that watch would make it difficult to don/doff a coat.Feature creep indeed!B^)",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
... | 1,760,372,468.356312 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2022/12/09/clean-slate-is-a-vintage-amplifier-inspired-pc/ | Clean Slate Is A Vintage Amplifier-Inspired PC | Navarre Bartz | [
"computer hacks",
"hardware"
] | [
"casemod",
"casemodder",
"casemodding",
"casemods",
"Micro-ATX"
] | Hacks that bring a vintage flair to modern electronics never get old, and [Jeffrey Stephenson] delivers with his
Project Clean Slate
inspired by vintage tube amps.
Thinking outside the traditional single box PC, [Jeffrey] built his computer into a series of component-specific boxes all attached to a platform housing the Micro ATX motherboard. The base is made of plywood with a birds-eye maple veneer and each of the component boxes features two different sizes of wire mesh to manipulate the viewer’s perception of the dimensions. Even the I/O and graphics card plates are custom made from aluminum for this build.
If you really want to dig into how this PC came to life, there’s a very detailed
build log
including every step of the process from bare board to finished product. We love when we get an inside look at the thought process behind each design decision in a build.
We’ve featured [Jeffrey] before with his
Humidor Cluster
, and you may also like this
PC inside a vintage radio
. | 9 | 6 | [
{
"comment_id": "6546821",
"author": "The Commenter Formerly Known As Ren",
"timestamp": "2022-12-10T15:09:32",
"content": "Sweet!A non portable (within means) cyberdeck!",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "6546939",
"author": "Phil",
"times... | 1,760,372,468.549761 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2022/12/09/properly-pipe-laser-light-around-with-homebrew-fiber-couplings/ | Properly Pipe Laser Light Around With Homebrew Fiber Couplings | Dan Maloney | [
"Laser Hacks"
] | [
"bayonet",
"collimator",
"coupling",
"fiber",
"fiber optic",
"laser",
"st"
] | It’s a rare person who can pick up a cheap laser pointer and not wield it like a lightsaber or a phaser, complete with sound effects. There’s just something about the “pew-pew” factor that makes projecting a laser beam fun, even if it’s not the safest thing to do, or the most efficient way to the light from one place to another.
We suspect that [Les Wright] has pew-pewed his way through more than a few laser projects in his lab, including
his latest experiments with fiber coupling of lasers
. The video below is chock full of tips on connecting cheap communications-grade fiber assemblies, which despite their standardized terminations aren’t always easy to use with his collection of lasers. Part of the challenge is that the optical fiber inside the cladding is often very small — as few as 9 microns. That’s a small target to hit without some alignment help, which [Les] uses a range of hacks to accomplish.
The meat of the video demonstrates how to use a cheap fiber fault locator and a simple optical bench setup to precisely align any laser with an optical fiber. A pair of adjustable mirrors allow him to overlap the beams of the fault locator and the target laser precisely. The effects can be interesting; we had no idea comms-grade fiber could leak as much light through the cladding as this, and the bend-radius limits are pretty dramatically illustrated. [Les] teases some practical sensing applications for this in a follow-up video, which we’re looking forward to.
Looking for more laser fun with your remaining eye? Check out
[Marco Reps] teardown of a 200-kW fiber laser
. | 6 | 2 | [
{
"comment_id": "6546170",
"author": "The Commenter Formerly Known As Ren",
"timestamp": "2022-12-10T01:17:10",
"content": "Can we get HaD readers to help [Dan Maloney] out with an alliterative Title for this article?It looked like he started out with one, but gave up after 2 words.B^)",
"parent... | 1,760,372,468.591672 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2022/12/09/printed-propeller-blades-repair-indoor-flyer/ | Printed Propeller Blades Repair Indoor Flyer | Tom Nardi | [
"classic hacks",
"Repair Hacks"
] | [
"3D printed parts",
"annealing",
"propeller",
"rubber band"
] | Fair warning for readers with a weak stomach, the video below graphically depicts an innocent rubber band airplane being obliterated in mid-air by a smug high-tech RC helicopter. It’s a shocking display of airborne class warfare, but the story does have a happy ending, as [Concrete Dog] was able to repair his old school flyer with some very modern technology:
a set of 3D printed propeller blades
.
Now under normal circumstances, 3D printed propellers are a dicey prospect. To avoid being torn apart by the incredible rotational forces they will be subjected to, they generally need to be bulked up to the point that they become too heavy, and performance suffers. The stepped outer surface of the printed blade doesn’t help, either.
But in a lightweight aircraft powered by a rubber band, obviously things are a bit more relaxed. The thin blades [Concrete Dog] produced on his Prusa Mini appear to be just a layer or two thick, and were printed flat on the bed. He then attached them to the side of a jar using Kapton tape, and put them in the oven to anneal for about 10 minutes. This not only strengthened the printed blades, but put a permanent curve into them.
The results demonstrated at the end of the video are quite impressive. [Concrete Dog] says the new blades actually outperform the originals aluminum blades, so he’s has to trim the plane out again for the increased thrust. Hopefully the extra performance will help his spindly bird avoid future aerial altercations.
On the electrically powered side of things, folks have been
trying to 3D print airplane and quadcopter propellers
for almost as long as desktop 3D printers have been on the market. With modern materials and high-resolution printers the idea is more practical than ever, though
it’s noted they don’t suffer crashes very well
. | 5 | 3 | [
{
"comment_id": "6546140",
"author": "HaHa",
"timestamp": "2022-12-10T00:45:15",
"content": "Indoor free flight prop blades are usually made of built up balsa strips covered in clear plastic. As are the planes themselves. Props are relatively large, slow turning things.They are not very stressed.It’... | 1,760,372,468.635633 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2022/12/09/an-open-source-powerpc-notebook-edges-closer/ | An Open Source PowerPC Notebook Edges Closer | Jenny List | [
"computer hacks"
] | [
"laptop",
"powerpc",
"PowerPC laptop"
] | Back in 2020, we reported on the effort to create a brand new open-source laptop platform using the PowerPC architecture. At the time they had big plans and a PCB design, and we’re very pleased to report that in the intervening two years they’ve progressed to the point of
now having some real prototypes ready for testing
.
Some might question why this should be necessary, after all there are plenty of laptops and more than one commonly available processor platform. But that’s to miss the point of open source hardware, that it’s as much about plurality as functionality. But if you’ve only encountered the PowerPC architecture in slightly older Macs and some game consoles, what’s the chip powering this device? The answer is, not one of those venerable chips, but the
NXP T2080
, a 1.8 GHz quad-core device that boasts a respectable power for a laptop.
There is of course many a hurdle still to be crossed between prototype and final device, but given the challenge of a functioning laptop it’s impressive for them to have reached this milestone at all. We look forward to seeing further iterations, and maybe, just maybe, a finished device one day.
Our original coverage is here
. | 21 | 10 | [
{
"comment_id": "6545830",
"author": "5tjui5r67yu5",
"timestamp": "2022-12-09T19:37:37",
"content": "Is such a laptop more energy efficient than an arm? If not, I don’t know if I would buy one.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "6559854",
... | 1,760,372,468.692367 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2022/12/09/ask-hackaday-will-your-2030-car-have-am-radio/ | Ask Hackaday: Will Your 2030 Car Have AM Radio? | Al Williams | [
"Current Events",
"Featured",
"News",
"Rants",
"Slider"
] | [
"am radio",
"car radio"
] | Car makers have been phasing out AM radios in their cars for quite some time. Let’s face it, there isn’t much on AM these days, and electric vehicles have been known to cause interference with AM radios. So why have them? For that matter, many aftermarket head units now don’t even have radios at all. They play digital media or stream Bluetooth from your phone. However, a U.S. Senator, Edward J. Markey, has started
a letter-writing campaign
to the major car makers urging them to retain the AM radio in their future vehicles.
So does that mean AM lives? Or will the car makers kill it off? The letter requests that the companies answer several questions, including if they plan to discontinue AM or FM radios in the near future and if they support digital broadcast radio.
AM Radio Kit –
CC-BY-SA-2.0
by [Joe Haupt]
We must admit we miss having robust AM radio stations with general interest programming. It was exciting to be able to build simple radios and hear something you liked hearing. In addition, it was fun to tune in far away stations at night when propagation could often put distant cities and even countries into your radio receiver. But these days, the AM bands are mostly fringe broadcasters with some sort of political, religious, or non-English programming that doesn’t have the listener base to support an FM station. Before you dash off to the comments to provide your favorite counterexample, sure, there are pockets of more general broadcasting and a few FM translators. There are also some microbroadcasting stations serving limited areas. But the days of high-power, general-interest AM radio stations are pretty much gone.
Lies and Statistics
The letter seems to conflate AM and FM radio, saying things like “AM radio has long been an important source of information for consumers…” This is followed by, “Before the COVID-19 pandemic, nearly 90 percent of Americans… listened to AM or FM radio each week…” Our guess is a lion’s share of that 90% was on FM radio. We were surprised, however, to learn that a poll said that 33% of consumers said an AM radio is a “very important” feature in a vehicle. It also claims that FEMA has invested in emergency infrastructure for AM radio stations, making them critical to emergency management plans, although all the quotes from FEMA and other data seem to imply that FM radio is also important.
Why do automakers care? Cost is probably one factor. But, even more pressing is the interference issue. The Senator pointed out that digital audio is less susceptible to EV interference, but — of course — there are few digital radio receivers and stations on the AM radio band.
Our Take
Radio Station KHJ in 1927 – Public Domain
Even the
inventor
of the modern radio (including FM) thought that supporting both AM and FM together was a stopgap measure until FM took over. While we get that there might be a small percentage of people who rely on AM radio and have a new-ish car, we would be surprised if the number was that large. Then subtract the number of people who have an FM radio either in the car or separately that they could use if necessary. Then the number is probably vanishingly small.
What’s more, is those people are even less likely to have digital broadcast receivers. You could argue that digital stations also broadcast on analog. But remember, the FCC approved all-digital for AM back in 2020. After all, the expanded AM band was supposed to relocate hundreds of stations, but a lack of receivers means a lack of interest and so the actual number of stations in the expanded band is minuscule, especially if you count the ones that are broadcasting in both the expanded band and the traditional band simultaneously. The push for AM stereo died, too, and
HD radio seems to be on life support
.
AM signals indeed have a long history with
civil defense
. But it seems incredible that AM radio is vital to the national interest in the year 2022. If my experience is typical, people hardly ever use FM anymore, opting for satellite or online streaming via the mobile network. Of course, the AM radio lobby probably doesn’t agree. What do you think? Tell us in the comments.
Featured image: “
2008_05_26_car_radios_04
” by Doc Searls (!) | 171 | 50 | [
{
"comment_id": "6545741",
"author": "Piotrsko",
"timestamp": "2022-12-09T18:13:49",
"content": "Could it be all the Government public emergency high power transmission is AM? Or that would it be easier to hack AM after said national disaster",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies":... | 1,760,372,468.990302 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2022/12/09/hackaday-podcast-196-flexing-hard-pcbs-dangers-of-white-filament-and-the-jetsons-kitchen-computer/ | Hackaday Podcast 196: Flexing Hard PCBs, Dangers Of White Filament, And The Jetsons’ Kitchen Computer | Tom Nardi | [
"Hackaday Columns",
"Podcasts",
"Slider"
] | [
"Hackaday Podcast"
] | This week, Editor-in-Chief Elliot Williams and Managing Editor Tom Nardi start the Hackaday Podcast by talking about another podcast that’s talking about…Hackaday. Or more accurately, the recent Hackaday Supercon. After confirming the public’s adoration, conversation moves on to designing flexible PCBs with code, adding a rotary dial to your mechanical keyboard, and a simulator that lets you visualize an extinction-level event. We’ll wrap things up by playing the world’s smallest violin for mildly inconvenienced closed source software developers, and wonder how the world might have been different if the lady of the house had learned to read binary back in 1969.
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 the podcast and play it on your Palm Pilot
!
Where to Follow Hackaday Podcast
Places to follow Hackaday podcasts:
iTunes
Spotify
Stitcher
RSS
YouTube
Check
out our Libsyn landing page
Episode 196 Show Notes:
News
The Bootloader – Episode 6: Supersized for Supercon
What’s that Sound?
Recognize this sound?
Fill out the form
and you could win a coveted Hackaday Podcast shirt!
Interesting Hacks of the Week:
Clever Design Technique Makes Flexible PCB Fit For A Queen
Flexible capacitive sensor – Fab Academy Quentin Bolsee
How To Build Beautiful Enclosures From FR4 — Aka PCBs
Hackaday Superconference: Nick Poole On Boggling The Boardhouse
PSA: Watch Out For White Filament
Radial Vector Reducer Rotates At Really Relaxed Velocity
Rotary Dial Number Pad Is The Perfect Prank For Retro-Phone Enthusiast
Restarting The Grid When The Grid Is Off The Grid
In My Neighborhood, We Played Asteroids…with Real Asteroids
NASA Are Squaring Up Against The Asteroid Threat
Watch NASA Crash A Probe Into An Asteroid Tonight
Quick Hacks:
Elliot’s Picks:
The World’s Brightest Laser Pointer?
Epic Guide To Bare-Metal STM32 Programming
Silicone-Slapping Servos Solve Simon Says
Tom’s Picks:
The PalmPilot Returns, This Time In Your Browser
Hackerboards: Making Finding The Right Single-Board Computer Easy
Merry Christmas! Rip And Tear!
Can’t-Miss Articles:
Perhaps It’s Time To Talk About All Those Fakes And Clones
Gift Idea From 1969: A Kitchen Computer | 1 | 1 | [
{
"comment_id": "6547323",
"author": "cmholm",
"timestamp": "2022-12-11T02:01:29",
"content": "You couldn’t hear me talking back to my earbud: Neiman Marcus was and is (perhaps unexpectedly) still a high end department store, which still publishes the Christmas Book catalog like the one featuring th... | 1,760,372,469.625754 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2022/12/10/lisp-runs-this-microcontroller-pendant/ | Lisp Runs This Microcontroller Pendant | Bryan Cockfield | [
"Software Hacks"
] | [
"Atmel",
"attiny",
"attiny3227",
"interpreter",
"lisp",
"microcontroller",
"pendant",
"star",
"ulisp",
"wearable"
] | As a programming language, Lisp has been around longer than any other active language except for Fortran. To anyone who regularly uses it, it’s easy to see why: the language allows for new syntax and macros to be created fluidly, which makes it easy to adapt it to new situations,
like running it on a modern Atmel microcontroller to control the LEDs on this star pendant
.
The pendant has simple enough hardware — six LEDs arranged around the points of the star, all being driven by a small ATtiny3227 operating from a coin cell battery. This isn’t especially spectacular on it’s own, but this particular microcontroller is running an integer version of a custom-built Lisp interpreter called uLisp. The project’s creator did this simply because of the whimsy involved in running a high-level programming language on one of the smallest microcontrollers around that would actually support the limited functionality of this version of Lisp. This implementation does stretch the memory and processing capabilities of the microcontroller quite a bit, but with some concessions, it’s able to run everything without issue.
As far as this project goes, it’s impressive if for nothing other than the ‘I climbed the mountain because it was there’ attitude. We appreciate all kinds of projects in that same vein,
like this Arduino competitor which supports a programming language with only eight commands
, or
this drone which can carry a human
. | 20 | 8 | [
{
"comment_id": "6547372",
"author": "SB5",
"timestamp": "2022-12-11T03:21:17",
"content": "I have to wonder about the resources this Lisp interpreter has compared to the one Guy Steele wrote for the IBM 1130 with 16K words (32Kbytes)back in the 1970’s. I will guess it takes less than 7 hours to com... | 1,760,372,469.677403 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2022/12/10/gaze-upon-the-swimming-mechanical-stingray-made-with-lego/ | Gaze Upon The Swimming Mechanical Stingray, Made With LEGO | Donald Papp | [
"Robots Hacks"
] | [
"lego",
"motorized",
"stringray",
"swimming",
"Technics",
"underwater"
] | Stingrays have an elegant, undulating swimming motion that can be hypnotic. [Vimal Patel] re-created this harmony with his
fantastic mechanical mechanical stingray
using LEGO pieces and a LEGO Technics Power Functions motor. The motor is set in a clever arrangement that drives the motion remotely, so that it and electrical elements can stay dry.
The mechanical stingray sits at the end of a sort of rigid umbilical shaft. This shaft connects the moving parts to the electrical elements, which float safely on the surface. This leaves only the stingray itself with its complex linkages free to move in the water, while everything else stays above the waterline.
We’ve seen some impressive LEGO creations before, like this
race car simulator
and
pneumatic engine
, and the mechanical action in this stingray is no exception. Interested in making your own?
The part list and build directions are available online
, and you can see it in action in the video embedded below. | 5 | 2 | [
{
"comment_id": "6547349",
"author": "Mr Name Required",
"timestamp": "2022-12-11T02:42:40",
"content": "Love it! It looks so cool swimming along.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "6547357",
"author": "The Commenter Formerly Known As Ren... | 1,760,372,469.198976 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2022/12/10/retro-alarm-clock-with-nixies-is-thoroughly-modern-inside/ | Retro Alarm Clock With Nixies Is Thoroughly Modern Inside | Robin Kearey | [
"clock hacks"
] | [
"alarm clock",
"current source",
"nixie",
"nixie clock"
] | We feature a lot of clocks here at Hackaday, but
alarm
clocks seem to be less popular for some reason. Maybe that’s because no-one enjoys being woken up in the morning, or simply because everyone uses their smartphone for that purpose already. In any case, we’re delighted to bring you [Manuel Tosone]’s
beautiful Nixie tube alarm clock
that cleverly combines modern and classic technologies in a single package.
The clock and alarm functionalities are implemented by a PIC24 microcontroller on a custom mainboard. It keeps track of time through its real-time clock with battery backup, and plays a song from an SD card when it’s time to wake up. A 2 x 3 W class D audio amplifier plus a pair of stereo speakers should be able to wake even the heaviest sleepers.
Of course, the real party piece is the clock’s display: four IN-4 Nixie tubes show the time, with neon tubes indicating the day of the week. The 180 V needed for the Nixies is generated by an MC34063A-based boost converter, which also powers the neon tubes.
Instead of using the standard current-limiting resistor for each Nixie tube, [Manuel] designed an array of transistor-based current sources: this enables linear control of the tubes’ brightness, and should keep the amount of light constant even as the tubes age. The individual segments are switched by SN75468 Darlington arrays, with no need for those hard-to-find SN74141 drivers.
The mainboard and the display are housed inside a 3D-printed case that mimics the style of 1980s digital alarm clocks, but with a nice 1970s twist courtesy of those Nixie tubes.
[Manuel]’s GitHub page
has all the schematics as well as extensive documentation describing the circuit’s operation — an excellent resource if you’re planning to build a Nixie project yourself. If Nixies aren’t your thing, you can also make an alarm clock
with a VFD tube
, or even
roll your own luminous analog dial
. | 12 | 6 | [
{
"comment_id": "6547128",
"author": "The Commenter Formerly Known As Ren",
"timestamp": "2022-12-10T21:38:08",
"content": "If I used my smartphone to wake me up, then what would the alarm clock be used for?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "654... | 1,760,372,469.349901 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2022/12/10/old-school-video-switching-levels-up-with-modern-usb-control/ | Old-School Video Switching Levels Up With Modern USB Control | Donald Papp | [
"classic hacks",
"Microcontrollers"
] | [
"composite",
"interfacing",
"usb",
"video switcher",
"vintage"
] | Video effects and mixing are done digitally today, but it wasn’t always so. When analog ruled the video world, a big switch panel was key to effective results.
VIdeo like this was the result of combining different analog feeds with different effects. The better the hardware, the more was possible.
Devices like [Glen]’s
Grass Valley Series 300 Crosspoint Switch Panel
were an important part of that world. With tools like that, a human operator could set up a composited preview feed in true
WYSIWYG
style, and switch to live on cue. All done with relatively simple CMOS ICs and buttons. Lots and lots of buttons.
[Glen] reverse engineers the panel to show how it works, and most of the heavy lifting is done by the MC14051B analog multiplexer/demultiplexer, and the MC14532B 8-bit priority encoder. Once that’s figured out, the door is open to modernizing things a little by using a microcontroller to drive the device, turning it into a USB peripheral.
With a little design work, [Glen] builds a PCB around the EFM8UB2 8-bit microcontroller to act as a USB peripheral and control the switch panel, taking care of things like key scanning and lamp control. The last step: a GUI application for monitoring and controlling the panel over USB.
This isn’t [Glen]’s first time interfacing to vintage video mixing and switching, and as many of us know it’s sometimes tricky work to interface to existing hardware. We covered his earlier video switcher project using
hardware that was not nearly as easy to work with as this one
. | 13 | 6 | [
{
"comment_id": "6547083",
"author": "Doctor Duck",
"timestamp": "2022-12-10T20:37:09",
"content": "Ah, the GVG 300, a mainstay of scifi films, standing in for the control surfaces of reactors and space ships for years. One push of the mix lever could beam you to the moon and back, with a neat risin... | 1,760,372,469.253097 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2022/12/10/fossil-files-my-emacs/ | Fossil Files: My .Emacs | Elliot Williams | [
"Hackaday Columns",
"Rants",
"Slider"
] | [
"cargo cult",
"Emacs",
"lisp",
"newsletter"
] | Last week, I
wrote about cargo culting in a much more general context
, so this week I’m going to come clean. The file that had me thinking about the topic was the worst case you’ve probably ever seen: I have a
.emacs
file kicking around that I haven’t really understood since I copied it from someone else – probably Ben Scarlet whose name is enshrined therein – in the computer lab
in 1994
! Yes, my
.emacs
file is nearly 30, and I still don’t really understand it, not exactly.
Now in my defence, I switched up to
vim
as my main editor a few years ago, but this one file has seen duty on Pentiums running pre-1.0 versions of Linux, on IBM RS/6000 machines in the aforementioned computer lab, and on a series of laptops and desktops that I’ve owned over the years. It got me through undergrad, grad school, and a decade of work. It has served me well. And if I fired up
emacs
right now, it would still be here.
For those of you out there who don’t use
emacs
, the
.emacs
file is a configuration file. It says how to interpret different files based on their extensions, defines some special key combos, and perhaps most importantly, defines how code syntax highlighting works. It’s basically
all
of the idiosyncratic look-and-feel stuff in
emacs
, and it’s what makes my
emacs
mine. But I don’t understand it.
Why? Because it’s written in LISP, for GNU’s sake, and because it references all manner of cryptic internal variables that
emacs
uses under the hood. I’m absolutely not saying that I haven’t tweaked some of the colors around, or monkey-patched something in here or there, but the extent is always limited to whatever I can get away with, without having to really
learn
LISP.
This ancient fossil of a file is testament to two things. The
emacs
codebase has been stable enough that it still works after all this time, but also that
emacs
is so damn complicated and written in an obscure enough language that I have never put the time in to really grok it – the barriers are too high and the payoff for the effort too low. I have no doubt that I
could
figure it out for real, but I just haven’t.
So I just schlep this file around, from computer to computer, without understanding it and without particularly wanting to. Except now that I write this. Damnit.
Featured image: “
A Dusty Old Book
” by Marco Verch Professional.
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
.
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! | 63 | 32 | [
{
"comment_id": "6546835",
"author": "nope",
"timestamp": "2022-12-10T15:22:12",
"content": "Lisp of all languages!https://michaelnielsen.org/ddi/lisp-as-the-maxwells-equations-of-software/",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "6546853",
"author":... | 1,760,372,469.585829 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2022/12/10/flipper-zero-hacker-tool-gets-ui-editor-for-custom-apps/ | Flipper Zero Hacker Tool Gets UI Editor For Custom Apps | Donald Papp | [
"handhelds hacks",
"Software Development"
] | [
"design tool",
"flipper zero",
"gui",
"WYSIWYG"
] | [Mikhail] released
a handy GUI editor/generator tool
for the Flipper Zero multipurpose hacker tool, making layouts and UI elements much easier and more intuitive to craft up.
Those who decide to delve into rolling their own applications or add-ons will find this a handy resource, especially as it generates the necessary code for the visual elements. It’s not limited to placing icons, either. Boxes, lines, dots, text, and more can be freely laid out to get things looking just right.
To use it, simply drag and drop icons of various sizes into the screen area. Non-icon UI elements like frames, lines, text, and others can be placed with a click using the buttons. To move elements around, click the SELECT button first, then drag things as needed. To fine-tune positioning (or change the text of a string) a selected element’s properties can be accessed and modified to the right of the simulated screen. When things look good, switch to the CODE tab and copy away to use it in your
Flipper
application.
Unfamiliar with the Flipper Zero? It’s a kind of wireless multitool;
a deeply interesting device
intended to make wireless exploration and experimentation as accessible as its dolphin mascot is adorable. | 12 | 1 | [
{
"comment_id": "6546796",
"author": "Carpespasm",
"timestamp": "2022-12-10T14:44:01",
"content": "Shame they can’t get their shipments through US customs, and their sales site feels sketchy. I’d love to get my hands on one. Seems like mayyybe they’ll be back in stock for US sale mid to late decembe... | 1,760,372,469.296666 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2022/12/10/using-github-actions-to-brew-coffee/ | Using GitHub Actions To Brew Coffee | Bryan Cockfield | [
"home hacks"
] | [
"automatic",
"ble",
"bluetooth",
"bluetooth low energy",
"coffee",
"delonghi",
"wireless"
] | It’s getting harder and harder to think of a modern premium-level appliance that doesn’t come with some level of Internet connectivity. These days it seems all but the cheapest refrigerators, air purifiers, and microwaves include wireless capabilities — unfortunately they’re often poorly implemented or behind a proprietary system. [Matt] recently purchased a high-end coffee maker with Bluetooth functionality which turned out to be nearly useless, and set to work
reverse-engineering his coffee maker and adapting it to work by sending commands from GitHub
.
Since the wireless connectivity and app for this coffee maker was so buggy and unreliable, [Matt] first needed to get deep into the weeds on Bluetooth Low Energy (BTLE). After sniffing traffic and identifying the coffee maker, he set about building an interface for it in Rust. Once he is able to send commands to it, the next step was to integrate it with GitHub, so that filing issues on the GitHub interface sends the commands from a nearby computer over Bluetooth to the coffee maker, with much more reliability than the coffee maker came with originally.
Using [Matt]’s methods, anyone stuck with one of these coffee makers, a Delonghi Dinamica Plus, should be able to reactivate the use of its wireless functionality. While we’d hope that anyone selling a premium product like this would take a tiny amount of time and make sure that the extra features actually work, this low bar seems to be oddly common for companies to surmount. But it’s not required to pick up an expensive machine like this just to remotely brew a cup of coffee. You can do that pretty easily
with a non-luxury coffee maker and some basic wireless hardware
. | 27 | 12 | [
{
"comment_id": "6546570",
"author": "Daniel",
"timestamp": "2022-12-10T09:42:32",
"content": "It feels like we have come full circle; From watching a coffee pot on the first webcam (Trojan Room coffee pot) to controlling it.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
... | 1,760,372,469.40975 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2022/12/08/drlcd-is-here-to-give-your-msla-printer-a-checkup/ | DrLCD Is Here To Give Your MSLA Printer A Checkup | Tom Nardi | [
"3d Printer hacks"
] | [
"compensation",
"masked SLA",
"UV LED"
] | Over the last couple years, we’ve seen an absolute explosion of masked stereolithography (MSLA) 3D printers that use an LCD screen to selectively block UV light coming from a powerful LED array. Combined with a stepper motor that gradually lifts the build plate away from the screen, this arrangement can be used to produce high-resolution 3D prints out of photosensitive resins. The machines are cheap, relatively simple, and the end results can be phenomenal.
But they aren’t foolproof. As [Jan Mrázek] explains,
these printers are only as good as their optical setup
— if they don’t have a consistent UV light source, or the masking LCD isn’t working properly, the final printed part will suffer. In an effort to better understand how these factors impact print quality, he designed the DrLCD: a TSL2561 luminosity sensor mounted to a robotic arm with associated software to map out the printer’s light source.
The individual LED assemblies are clearly visible.
The results when running DrLCD against a few different types of printers is fascinating. [Jan] was clearly able to make out the type of lenses used, and in one case, was even able to detect that a darker spot in the scan was due to a bit of resin having leaked into the light source and clouded up the optics.
But DrLCD can do more than just tell you where you’ve got a dark spot. Using the data collected from the scan, it’s possible to create a “compensation map” that can be combined with the sliced model you wish to print. As the slicer assumes an idealistic light source, this map can help by adding additional masking where bright spots in the display have been detected.
[Jan] goes on to compare the dimensional accuracy of printed parts before and after the compensation map has been applied to the model, and was able to identify a small but distinctive improvement. Not everyone is going to be concerned about the 157 µm deviation observed without the backlight compensation, but we certainly aren’t going to complain about 3D printers getting even
more
dimensionally accurate.
A couple years back we covered a
similar technique that used a DSLR to capture high-resolution images
of the bed. While arguably much easier to pull off, we can’t help but fall in love with the glorious overengineering that went into the DrLCD system, and we can’t wait until it starts making house calls. | 11 | 3 | [
{
"comment_id": "6545201",
"author": "Thomas Anderson",
"timestamp": "2022-12-09T08:10:59",
"content": "Maybe you could use the generated image to print a physical compensation mask on a sheet of transparency. It would darken the bright spots evening out the light.",
"parent_id": null,
"dept... | 1,760,372,469.730419 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2022/12/08/the-robots-of-fukushima-going-where-no-human-has-gone-before-and-lived/ | The Robots Of Fukushima: Going Where No Human Has Gone Before (And Lived) | Ryan Flowers | [
"Robots Hacks"
] | [
"Fukushima",
"Nuclear Reactor",
"radiation",
"robotics",
"robots"
] | The idea of sending robots into conditions that humans would not survive is a very old concept. Robots don’t heed oxygen, food, or any other myriad of human requirements. They can also be treated as disposable, and they can also be radiation hardened, and they can physically fit into small spaces. And if you just happen to be the owner of a nuclear power plant that’s had multiple meltdowns, you need robots. A lot of them. And [
Asianometry
] has provided an excellent synopsis of the Robots of Fukushima in the
video below the break
.
Starting with robots developed for the Three Mile Island incident and then Chernobyl, [Asianometry] goes into the technology and even the politics behind getting robots on the scene, and the crossover between robots destined for space and war, and those destined for cleaning up after a meltdown.
The video goes further into the challenges of putting a robot into a high radiation environment. Also interesting is the state of readiness, or rather the lack thereof, that prompted further domestic innovation.
Obviously, cleaning up a melted down reactor requires highly specialized robots. What’s more, robots that worked on one reactor didn’t work on others, creating the need for yet more custom built machines. The video discusses each, and even touches on future robots that will be needed to fully decommission the Fukushima facility.
For another look at some of the early robots put to work, check out the post “
The Fukushima Robot Diaries
” which we published over a decade ago. | 9 | 5 | [
{
"comment_id": "6545129",
"author": "macsimski",
"timestamp": "2022-12-09T06:38:44",
"content": "Difficult environment to work in. Sounds like a better frontier than going to mars.Btw: nucleair proponents not home right now? What a pity…",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
... | 1,760,372,470.256828 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2022/12/08/build-a-better-mousetrap-but-it-better-be-better/ | Build A Better Mousetrap… But It Better Be Better! | Al Williams | [
"car hacks",
"Hackaday Columns",
"Rants",
"Slider"
] | [
"cars",
"Rant"
] | As creative problem solvers, we like to “think outside the box,” and we should strive for that. But what happens if your strange idea isn’t kept in check by cooler heads? There is a real danger — especially if you work alone — to falling so in love with your idea, that you lose sight of what it really means to be better.
Case in point. The self-parking car. Well, not the modern variant, which seems to work pretty well. But did you know that the self-parking car was invented in the 1930s and used an extra fifth wheel? Hard to imagine? See the video below. History tells us that the idea didn’t catch on.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nwZnl1Eq_6M
Car Crazy
Cars seem to have a long track record for off-the-wall ideas. Cadillac sold Louie Mattar a brand new 1947 vehicle. By 1952, he had souped it up so that it drove non-stop for 6,320 miles — the distance from San Diego to New York and back. The car had to be refueled from a moving gas truck three times, which is good for airplanes but maybe a bit much for a car. It was only three times because it was towing a trailer that contained, among other things, 230 gallons of gas along with oil and water. But that isn’t the real oddball idea. The car had a stove, a fridge, a washing machine and a toilet. Yup, no need to stop for bathroom breaks if you have a toilet and a 50-gallon water tank onboard. The car could be maintained while moving including changing or inflating a tire.
Of course, there was Ford’s
nuclear car
which wouldn’t need extra fuel.
Sometimes…
It seems like a lot of times these “great ideas” aren’t really bad concepts, but it’s just that the execution falls short, like for the self-parking car. Another example would be the car-mounted record player. If you think record players don’t work well in hot bumpy cars, then you are correctly thinking in the box.
But someone at Chrysler in 1956 thought the “Hiway Hi-FI” was just the thing. The record player ejected from the dashboard and played custom records that stored an hour of music on a platter the size of a standard 45 record. The AutoVictrola was a later attempt that took a stack of standard 45 records. Norelco/Philips had a similar system that could almost pass for a CD player if a CD player took a 45 record.
Lesson Learned
If you ever took a class in fiction writing, there is a saying you might have heard: “Be cruel to your characters.” In other words, no one wants to read a novel about a woman with a perfect life who gets everything she wants and is very happy. You want to read about a guy who gets taken hostage or a princess dealing with an evil stepmother, or… you get the idea.
For our ideas, we should be cruel to them, too. Seek outside advice and make sure you put all the cards on the table. If you ask your friend, “Would you like a cell phone that lasts a week before you have to charge it?” You’ll get an affirmative answer. Just make sure you know they have to carry a rickshaw-like device festooned with solar panels everywhere they go.
You might argue: “But my idea is so visionary that people can’t see how truly wonderful it is until they experience it.” Maybe. Many people thought no one needed a computer in their home. But Honeywell thought they could sell their 316 computer for people to use in their kitchens. We still don’t really have “recipe computers,” and what did drive computers into people’s homes were things that Honeywell didn’t think of at that time. So sometimes you need not only the right idea, but at the right time, and for the right purpose. Ask yourself critically about all three of these factors.
After all, we finally got virtual meetings and robots, but
not in 1927
. We are still waiting for our
flying car
to arrive. | 22 | 6 | [
{
"comment_id": "6544588",
"author": "Obviously solid state drives can sustain a bit more g-force than playing CDs.",
"timestamp": "2022-12-08T18:40:51",
"content": "We did make many CD players that played in the car but also initially skipped pretty much anytime the car moved much or hit a bump. So... | 1,760,372,469.916107 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2022/12/08/a-very-tidy-atx-bench-psu/ | A Very Tidy ATX Bench PSU | Jenny List | [
"Tool Hacks"
] | [
"atx psu",
"bench power supply",
"power supply"
] | If there’s one thing that for decades of desktop PCs have given us, it’s a seemingly endless supply of relatively capable power supplies. If you need 5 volts or 12 volts at a respectable current they’re extremely useful, so quite a few people have used them as bench power supplies. Some of these builds box up the mess of wires into a set of more useful connectors, but [Joao Pinheiro]
has taken his to the next level
with a very neat 3D printed case and a set of variable switching regulators to make a variable bench supply with a top voltage of 60 volts.
In many ways it’s a straightforward wiring job to build, but there’s an unexpected power resistor involved. It’s sinking the 5 volt line, and we’re guessing that some current is required here for the PC power supply to run reliably. The thought of a high power resistor dumping heat into a 3D printed case leads us to expect that things might become a little melty though.
ATX power supplies are so numerous as to be expendable, so
it’s always worth regarding them as a source of parts as well as a power supply
. | 20 | 7 | [
{
"comment_id": "6544535",
"author": "SRK",
"timestamp": "2022-12-08T16:50:22",
"content": "It might be pretty but it’s still cost optimized switching PSU with enough ripple to trigger TTLs when under no load. There’s a reason why electronic boards inside computer have so much capacitors it’s unbeli... | 1,760,372,469.861267 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2022/12/08/singapore-branches-out-into-internet-of-trees/ | Singapore Branches Out Into Internet Of Trees | Kristina Panos | [
"Featured",
"green hacks",
"Interest",
"News",
"Original Art",
"Slider"
] | [
"dendrometer",
"IoT",
"tree health",
"trees"
] | Five years ago, a 38-year-old woman was enjoying an outdoor concert with her family with one of her twin infants in her arms. In the week prior, it had been windy and rainy, but today, the weather was nice, and the concert was crowded. Without warning,
a 270-year-old tembusu tree fell on the woman
, pinning and ultimately killing her after the other concertgoers couldn’t remove it in time. This tragedy happened in spite of twice-yearly inspections where the tree showed no visual signs of trouble.
It’s exactly this type of incident that Singaporean officials hope to avoid by
building an Internet of Trees
. The equatorial island nation is home to roughly 5.5 million people, and around 7 million trees — about 6 million of which are tracked by Singapore’s National Parks Board, so that they can be managed remotely with an app. (The Board only tracks trees once they’ve reached a certain size, so we’ll assume that the other million are too young to join the fun just yet.)
While tree-triggered deaths are fairly few and far between, there are plenty of other ‘tree incidents’ that can occur, such as a branch falling, or a tree trunk snapping or uprooting. Depending on the size of the branch, this can be a dangerous nuisance as it could block roads, obscure signage, or destroy property. Thanks to the efforts of the National Parks Board, these incidents have dropped from around 3,000 per year at the turn of the millennium to under 500 per year today.
A Twin for Every Tree
An arborist monitors trees in the field. Image via
The Register
This all may sound like a new-ish endeavor, but it may surprise you to learn that the program started 20 years ago when arborists geo-tagged the extant trees. Since then, they have kept up as technology progressed — geo-tagging via machine learning began about five years back, and is now automated.
Singapore’s National Parks Board monitors the trees by creating a digital twin of each one using LiDAR point clouds and artificial intelligence to do geo-location. This way, many aspects of a tree’s health can be analyzed from an air-conditioned office — a valuable asset in a place where it’s always summer.
The Board then takes the digital twins and applies finite element models to them in order to assess the tree’s overall stability — factors such as the tree’s architecture, wood strength, and the available space for roots — with regard to different weather conditions. Although it’s perpetually summer in Singapore, the country experiences their share of intense, tree-twisting tropical storms each year.
A special drill for measuring tree density.
A tilt sensor monitors the angle of a mossy tree.
Along with examining the trees from the comfort of air-conditioned offices, the organization also monitors them physically and in the field using special drills that measure the density of trees and can detect cavities. If this rings a bell, it’s likely because of [John Opsahl]’s
OpenDendrometer
, which was
a finalist
in the Climate-Resilient Communities Challenge of the 2022 Hackaday Prize. Among other things, OpenDendrometer can help determine whether a tree is experiencing water stress, or if the growth rate has slowed over time.
Given that we rely on trees for shade, oxygen, food, and visual appeal, it makes perfect sense to monitor them even though they don’t move around much. Hopefully, this plants a seed in the minds of other governments. | 18 | 7 | [
{
"comment_id": "6544540",
"author": "Collie147",
"timestamp": "2022-12-08T16:58:58",
"content": "While I appreciate the value add in this survey and monitoring system from an ecological study point of view, and I know a life has infinite value (outside of courts, insurance and certain parts of the ... | 1,760,372,469.977536 |
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