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https://hackaday.com/2024/11/21/quick-and-very-dirty-repair-gets-smoked-plc-back-in-the-game/ | Quick And Very Dirty Repair Gets Smoked PLC Back In The Game | Dan Maloney | [
"Repair Hacks"
] | [
"arc flash",
"fr4",
"omron",
"plasma",
"plc",
"programmable logic controller",
"relay"
] | When electronics release the Magic Smoke, more often than not it’s a fairly sedate event. Something overheats, the packaging gets hot enough to emit that characteristic and unmistakable odor, and wisps of smoke begin to waft up from the defunct component. Then again, sometimes the Magic Smoke is more like the Magic Plasma, as was the case in
this absolutely smoked Omron programmable logic controller
.
Normally, one tasked with repairing such a thing would just write the unit off and order a replacement. But [Defpom] needed to get the pump controlled by this PLC back online immediately, leading to the somewhat unorthodox repair in the video below. Whatever happened to this poor device happened rapidly and energetically, taking out two of the four relay-controlled outputs. [Defpom]’s initial inspection revealed that the screw terminals for one of the relays no longer existed, one relay enclosure was melted open, its neighbor was partially melted, and a large chunk of the PCB was missing. Cleaning up the damaged relays revealed what the “FR” in “FR4” stands for, as the fiberglass weave of the board was visible after the epoxy partly burned away before self-extinguishing.
With the damaged components removed and the dangerously conductive carbonized sections cut away, [Defpom] looked for ways to make a temporary repair. The PLC’s program was locked, making it impossible to reprogram it to use the unaffected outputs. Instead, he redirected the driver transistor for the missing relay two to the previously unused and still intact relay one, while adding an outboard DIN-mount relay to replace relay three. In theory, that should allow the system to work with its existing program and get the system back online.
Did it work? Sadly, we don’t know, as the video stops before we see the results. But we can’t see a reason for it not to work, at least temporarily while a new PLC is ordered. Of course, the other solution here could have been to
replace the PLC with an Arduino
, but this seems like the path of least resistance. Which, come to think of it, is probably what caused the damage in the first place. | 11 | 5 | [
{
"comment_id": "8064930",
"author": "Rick",
"timestamp": "2024-11-22T09:50:47",
"content": "And now for the obligatory ….He should have just used a 555",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "8064957",
"author": "Jii",
"timestamp": "2024-11-22T... | 1,760,371,722.924486 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/11/21/creating-and-control-of-magnetic-skyrmions-in-ferromagnetic-film-demonstrated/ | Creating And Control Of Magnetic Skyrmions In Ferromagnetic Film Demonstrated | Maya Posch | [
"Science"
] | [
"ferromagnetic",
"skyrmion",
"spintronics"
] | Visualization of magnetic skyrmions. (Credit: KRISS)
Magnetic skyrmions are stable quasi-particles that can be generated in (some) ferromagnetic materials with conceivable solutions in electronics, assuming they can be created and moved at will. The creation and moving of such skyrmions has now been demonstrated by
[Yubin Ji] et al. with a research article
in
Advanced Materials
. This
first ever achievement
by these researchers of the Korea Research Institute of Standards and Science (KRISS) was more power efficient than previously demonstrated manipulation of magnetic skyrmions in thicker (3D) materials.
Magnetic skyrmions
are sometimes described as ‘magnetic vortices’, forming statically stable solitons. For magnetic skyrmions their stability comes from the topological stability, as changing the atomic spin of the atoms inside the skyrmion would require overcoming a significant energy barrier.
In the case of the KRISS researchers, electrical pulses together with a magnetic field were used to create magnetic skyrmions in the ferromagnetic (Fe
3
GaTe
2
, or FGaT) film, after which a brief (50 µs) electric current pulse was applied. This demonstrated that the magnetic skyrmions can be moved this way, with the solitons moving parallel to the electron flow injection, making them quite steerable.
While
practical applications
of magnetic skyrmions are likely to be many years off, it is this kind of fundamental research that will enable future magnetic storage and spintronics-related devices.
Featured image: Direct imaging of the magnetic skyrmions. The scale bars represent 300 nm. (Credit:Yubin Ji et al., Adv. Mat. 2024) | 23 | 6 | [
{
"comment_id": "8064885",
"author": "Gravis",
"timestamp": "2024-11-22T05:28:04",
"content": "My trypophobia!",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "8064916",
"author": "aki009",
"timestamp": "2024-11-22T07:37:18",
"content": "How about th... | 1,760,371,723.306699 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/11/21/gear-up-a-15-minute-intro-on-involute-gears/ | Gear Up: A 15-Minute Intro On Involute Gears | Heidi Ulrich | [
"cnc hacks",
"hardware",
"Misc Hacks",
"Parts"
] | [
"gear",
"introduction",
"involute gear"
] | If you’re into CNC machining, mechanical tinkering, or just love a good engineering rabbit hole, you’re in for a treat. Substack’s [lcamtuf] has written
a quick yet insightful 15-minute introduction to involute gears
that’s as informative as it is accessible. You can find the full article here. Compared to Hackaday’s
more in-depth exploration
in their
Mechanisms
series over the years, this piece is a beginner-friendly gateway into the fascinating world of gear design.
Involute gears aren’t just pretty spirals. Their unique geometry minimizes friction and vibration, keeps rotational speeds steady, and ensures smooth torque transfer—no snags, no skips. As [lcamtuf] points out, the secret sauce lies in their design, which can’t be eyeballed. By simulating the meshing process between a gear and a rack (think infinite gear), you can create the smooth, rolling movement we take for granted in everything from cars to coffee grinders.
From pressure angles to undercutting woes, [lcamtuf] explores why small design tweaks matter. The pièce de résistance? Profile-shifted gears—a genius hack for stronger teeth in low-tooth-count designs.
Whether you’re into
the theory behind gear ratios
, or in need of
a nifty tool to cut them at home
, Hackaday has got you covered. Inspired? | 10 | 5 | [
{
"comment_id": "8064834",
"author": "Maggie",
"timestamp": "2024-11-22T00:58:02",
"content": "Keep in mind Lcamtuf is an ex-googler and software engineer. While his writings are probably correct, they’re not based on practice. If you need a proper reference, grab an actual textbook. “Machine Design... | 1,760,371,722.824187 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/11/21/custom-mouse-rocks-neat-thumbstick-design/ | Custom Mouse Rocks Neat Thumbstick Design | Lewin Day | [
"Misc Hacks"
] | [
"mouse",
"pointing device"
] | A mouse is just two buttons, and a two-dimensional motion tracking system, right? Oh, and a scroll wheel. And a third button. And…now you’re realizing that mice can be pretty complicated. [DIY Yarik] proves that in spades
with his impressive—and complex—mouse build
. The only thing is, you might argue it isn’t
really
a mouse.
The inspiration for the mouse was simple. [Yarik] wanted something that was comfortable to use. He also wanted a mouse that wouldn’t break so often—apparently, he’s had a lot of reliability issues with mice in recent years. Thus, he went with a custom 3D-printed design with a wrist rest at the base. This allows his hand to naturally rest in a position where he can access multiple buttons and a central thumbstick for pointing. In fact, there’s a secondary scroll control and a rotary dial as well. It’s a pretty juicy control surface.
Code is up on GitHub
.
The use of a thumbstick is controversial—some might exclaim “this is not a mouse!” To them, I say, “Fine, call it a pointing device.” It’s still cool, and it look like a comfortable way to interface with a computer.
We’ve seen some other neat custom mice over the years, too, like this
hilarious force-feedback mouse
. Video after the break. | 20 | 6 | [
{
"comment_id": "8064768",
"author": "limroh",
"timestamp": "2024-11-21T22:28:49",
"content": "Not even trackballs are “mice” but you’re calling this joystick adjacent contraption a mouse?Are digitizer pens or touchscreens mice too?!This maybe a crossover between joystick and nipple but not a mouse.... | 1,760,371,722.991869 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/11/21/free-wili-turns-dc32-badge-into-hardware-dev-tool/ | FREE-WILi Turns DC32 Badge Into Hardware Dev Tool | Tom Nardi | [
"Tool Hacks"
] | [
"badgelife",
"DC32",
"DEFCON 32",
"electronic badge",
"sao"
] | With few exceptions, electronic event badges are often all but forgotten as soon as the attendee gets back home. They’re a fun novelty for the two or three days they’re expected to be worn, but after that, they end up getting tossed in a drawer (or worse.) As you might imagine, this can be a somewhat depressing thought thought for the folks who design and build these badges.
But thanks to a
new firmware released by the FREE-WILi project
, at least one badge is going to get a shot at having a second life. When loaded onto the RP2350-powered DEF CON 32 badge, the device is turned into a handy hardware hacking multi-tool. By navigating through a graphical interface, users will be able to control the badge’s GPIO pins, communicate over I2C, receive and transmit via infrared, and more. We’re particularly interested in the project’s claims that the combination of their firmware and the DC32 badge create an ideal platform for testing and debugging
Simple Add-Ons (SAOs)
.
Don’t know what the FREE-WILi project is? Neither did we until today, which is actually kind of surprising now that we’re getting a good look at it. Basically, it’s a handheld gadget with a dozen programmable GPIO pins and a pair of CC1101 sub-GHz radios that’s designed to talk to…whatever you could possibly want to interface with.
It’s a bit like
an even
more
capable Bus Pirate 5
, which considering how many tricks that particular device can pull off, is saying something. As an added bonus, apparently you can even wear the FREE-WILi on your wrist for mobile hardware hacking action!
Anyway, while the hardware in the FREE-WILi is clearly more capable than what’s under the hood of the DC32 badge, there’s enough commonality between them that the developers were able to port a few of the key features over. It’s a clever idea — there’s something like 30,000 of these badges out there in the hands of nerds all over the world, and by installing this firmware, they’ll get a taste of what the project is capable of and potentially spring for the full kit.
If you give your DC32 badge the FREE-WILi treatment, be sure to let us know in the comments. | 14 | 3 | [
{
"comment_id": "8064688",
"author": "Dmitry Grinberg",
"timestamp": "2024-11-21T19:41:00",
"content": "They are quite wrong on IR.The badge has an IRDa sensor. This is not directly compatible with IR Remote devices (although IR Transmit works)This is 100% nonsense. IR remote (aka CIR) is IR modulat... | 1,760,371,723.613253 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/11/21/usb-c-for-hackers-reusing-cables/ | USB-C For Hackers: Reusing Cables | Arya Voronova | [
"Hackaday Columns",
"hardware",
"Slider"
] | [
"cable",
"hack",
"reuse",
"USB C"
] | Your project needs a cable, and since USB-C cables are omnipresent now, it’s only natural to want to reuse them for your evil schemes. Ever seen USB 3.0 cables used for PCIe link carrying duty? It’s because USB 3.0 cables are built to a reasonably high standard, both sockets and cables are easy to find, and they’re cheap. Well, USB-C cables beat USB 3.0 cables by all possible metrics.
Let’s go through USB-C cable reuse in great detail, and see just what exactly you get when you buy either a gas station C-C USB 2.0 cable, or, the fanciest all-features-supported 240 W Thunderbolt cable that money can buy. Looking for a cable to cut, or something to pass a seriously high-speed link? You’re reading the right article.
The Omnipresent Cables
USB-A to USB-C cables are the least interesting. They’re equivalent to a microUSB to USB-A cable, except there’s a resistor on the USB-C plug, connected from VBUS to one of the CC pins. That’s it. The cable contains four conductors, there’s really not much new. Save these cables for all the devices still built without the 5.1 kΩ resistors.
Now, a USB-C to USB-C cable – let’s say, 60 W max, the default USB-C cable capability. If your cable says anything less than 60 W, say, “2 A” or “15 W”, that’s a lie – it can handle 60 W no problem, all USB-C to C cables can do 60 W. This cable is also cool – for one, it has five conductors; GND, VBUS, D+, D-, and CC. Two of them (GND and VBUS) are guaranteed to be thick enough to carry 3 A without much voltage drop if any, too!
five conductors, two of them thicker – yep, you know where to find a replacement!
What does this mean? If you need a five-wire cable to fix your headphones, and you want something solid, a USB-C cable is probably your best bet ever – and you have a ton of choice here. You will inevitably end up with a heap of broken USB-C cables, which means you’ll never be short of 5-conductor cables – the kind of cable that has always been kind of a rarity, unless you’re pilfering headphone cables for your projects.
What about 100 W to 240 W cables? There’s good news and bad news. Good news is, the cable is likely to contain six wires. One extra wire is for VCONN – power for the emarker chip inside the cable plug, a memory chip you can read over the CC line, letting the PSU know whether the cable is indeed capable of carrying over 5 A – required for the 61 W to 240 W range.
Bad news is – there could still be five wires, if the cable is built using the alternative scheme with two emarkers, one per plug. The VCONN wire won’t be present then, and there’s no way to know until you cut the wire apart, so if you’re looking for a six-wire cable, you might have to try a few different cables. Also, the VCONN wire doesn’t connect the two plugs together – it’s isolated at one end, so don’t expect it to help if you use USB-C sockets instead of cutting the cable.
Now, you don’t always want to cut the cable – you can use USB-C sockets and apply your custom five-wire scheme to them. An idea I hear often is using USB-C cables for 3D printer hotends. It makes sense – such cables can handle 60 W of power without breaking a sweat, and you could likely do a fair bit more. Put extruder power onto the VBUS and GND pins, and use the three wires left for a thermistor and a limit switch. But the cable and socket mechanicals might be a dealbreaker. If your extruder-powering cable vibrates out of the socket, you might end up with a high-resistance-contact high-current connection on your hands – a recipe for melted plastic and possibly flames. Try it at your own risk!
You also won’t be able to make such cable reuse standard-compliant, and such port won’t be safe for any USB-C devices someone might plug into it, so label it accordingly, please.
What About Voltages?
What about putting arbitrary voltages onto VBUS, without PD negotiation? Again, it won’t be standards-compliant unless you really put some effort in – mark your jury-rigged sockets and cables accordingly, or they will eat your devices for breakfast. Also, SPR (100 W) cables contain 30 V 10 nF capacitors at each plug end, and EPR cables contain 63 V ones – reach these limits at your own risk, those capacitors are known to fail short-circuit.
Another factor is if you decide to go for the 48 V / 5 A target while bypassing the USB-C standard, because 48 V support is not as simple as putting 48 V on VBUS. If you just put 48 V on the VBUS pins, you’ll really want to figure out spark management, so that suddenly unplugging the cable won’t burn either the plug or the socket or both – PD has ways to deal with that, but they do require you to actually implement PD, specifically, EPR, which brings a heap of safety guarantees due to exceeding the 20 V limit.
That’s about it when it comes to reusing the cheapest kinds of USB-C cables – you get an extra wire compared to previous USB standards, it can handle a fair bit more power, and you can even use USB-C sockets. However, it will kill your devices if you’re not careful, and you need to take extra care if you go over 25 V or so. What about if you want to get more wires and pull some differential pairs instead?
Up The Speed
Fully-featured USB-C cables and sockets are genuinely wonderful for pulling high-speed communications over them. They are built to a solid standard, with proper impedance controls, shielding, and a modern-day understanding of digital transmission standards. Now, what exactly do you get from a fully-featured USB-C cable?
HDMI over USB C – as in, passing HDMI signals through USB-C cables. I guess, that’s one way to circumvent connector royalties!
Short answer is, you get six differential pairs, and one single-ended wire (CC), in addition to VBUS and GND. You might want to keep GND at a stable level here, and perhaps don’t mess too much with VBUS. There’s a ton you can do with these six diffpairs – two USB3 ports, or a PCIe x2 link, or two SATA, or HDMI, or CSI/DSI. You can even do Ethernet if you really want to – just don’t expect galvanic isolation to work.
There are nuances, of course! Ever see a teardown or an X-ray of a fancy fully-featured cable? There’s typically all sorts of ICs inside each plug. The first one is the emarker chip, and it’s a fun one to keep in mind. For a start, it will result in some ESD diodes between GND and CC – watch out, don’t bring CC below 0 V or above 5 V.
A second kind of IC is the signal re-driver, used in active cables. You have to provide power to these redrivers through either VBUS or VCONN, just like emarkers. If you don’t do it, your high-speed lines might just be unresponsive to any high-speed signal you apply to the pins.
What about rotation? That’s a tough one – unless your signal is very much like USB3/DisplayPort/Thunderbolt, you might not be able to find a suitable mux chip to rotate your signals. As such, you will likely want to stick to a single rotation and wire your signals directly. Then, if you plug in the cable in an unexpected way, it won’t work, so you should probably consider using the CC pin or the two SBU pins for lighting up LEDs. showing you whether you’re good, or whether you should unplug the cable, rotate it, and plug it back in, like in the good old days.
There’s one last thing you might care about. USB-C cables connect TX on one end to RX on another end, and vice-versa. This is nice for PCIe purposes, since it, too, flips pair naming at the connector. For any other signal, you’ll want to keep it in mind – RX1 won’t go to RX1 on the other end, it will go to TX1, and you’ll have to re-layout accordingly. Unfortunately, I’m not intimately familar with active cable inner workings – so, it’s hard for me to tell whether any active cable redriver chips would reject certain sorts of signaling, perhaps, signals that don’t match USB3, DisplayPort or Thunderbolt signaling types.
And One Last Hack
These are the basics of what you should know before you try and reuse a USB-C cable, no matter its complexity. That said, here’s an extra hack before we conclude!
Only one USB2 pair is actually connected at the USB-C cable end – the pair on the same side as the CC pin. My guess is, this was initially done to avoid stubs and cable plug PCB routing complications, as well as to accomodate standards like VirtualLink. Regretfully, we never got VirtualLink cables, which would allow us to use seven differential pairs at a time, but there is another hack we still get out of this!
What does this mean for you? If you use two USB2-grade 2:1 muxes, you can get two extra differential signals out of a fully-compliant USB socket, and they won’t even interfere with standard-compliant cables. Use this for SWD, JTAG, or whatever else, with your signals broken out through a custom plug – just make sure you dutifully switch the muxes depending on cable orientation, then you can keep your USB2 cake and eat it, too. | 83 | 15 | [
{
"comment_id": "8064656",
"author": "David",
"timestamp": "2024-11-21T18:24:25",
"content": "Members of the Evil League of Evil only use cursed cables for my evil schemes.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "8064662",
"author": "Dan",
"time... | 1,760,371,723.55123 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/11/21/theres-now-a-wiki-for-hacking-redbox-machines/ | There’s Now A Wiki For Hacking Redbox Machines | Lewin Day | [
"Current Events"
] | [
"dvd",
"redbox",
"rental"
] | With the rapidly evolving situation surrounding the Redbox vending machines still out in the wild, it’s about time somebody put together a Wiki to keep it all straight.
The
un
redbox wiki has information
on the various different hardware revisions that Redbox put out into the wild, from the regular outdoor machines to the weird indoor blue variant. The site also has breakdowns on individual components. For example, it covers the computers inside the machines, built by Dell, Lenovo, and Premio, and bits and pieces like the DVD carousel and the modems used inside.
Basically, if you’re working with these machines and you don’t have a manual, this resource could help you out. As could the neat video below that shows the internals of a Redbox machine during the reloading process.
Whatever you do, though, don’t steal the kiosks.
There’s folks handling that already
, you’re not allowed to just walk up and haul them away. Check out our earlier coverage of people that are
still out there renting from these machines, too
. | 11 | 4 | [
{
"comment_id": "8064622",
"author": "Jii",
"timestamp": "2024-11-21T17:26:28",
"content": "Now someone just needs to invent a very thin and strong sammich to replace the DVDs.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "8064627",
"author": "DC",
... | 1,760,371,722.873438 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/11/21/blended-wing-body-passenger-airplanes-and-the-end-of-winged-tubes/ | Blended Wing Body Passenger Airplanes And The End Of Winged Tubes | Maya Posch | [
"Engineering",
"Featured",
"Interest",
"Science",
"Slider"
] | [
"airplanes",
"blended wing body",
"flying wing",
"lifting body"
] | The SR-71 with its blended wing body design. (Photo by Tech. Sgt. Michael Haggerty, US Air Force, 1988)
Ask someone to picture an airplane and they’re likely to think of what is essentially a tube with wings and a stabilizing tail tacked onto one end of said tube. Yet it is also no secret that the lift produced by such a tube is rather poor, even if they’re straightforward for loading cargo (static and self-loading) into them and for deciding where to put in windows. Over the decades a number of alternative airplane designs have been developed, with some of them also ending up being produced. Here most people are probably quite familiar with the US Air Force’s B-2 Spirit bomber and its characteristic flying wing design, while blended wing body (BWB) maintains a somewhat distinctive fuselage, as with for example the B-1 Lancer.
Outside of military airplanes BWBs are a pretty rare sight. Within the world of passenger airplanes the tube-with-wings pattern that the first ever passenger airplanes adopted has persisted with the newest designs, making it often tricky to distinguish one airplane from another. This could soon change, however, with a strong interest within the industry for passenger-oriented BWBs. The reason for this are the significant boosts in efficiency, quieter performance and more internal (useful) volume, which makes airline operators very happy, but which may also benefit passengers.
With that said, how close are we truly to the first BWB passenger airplane delivery to an airline?
Heavier Than Air Aerodynamics
Wright Flyer II flying circles in 1904 (Photo by the
Wright brothers
)
When regarding the first ever airplanes to make a successful powered flight, in particular the
Wright Flyer
, it’s notable where the focus was put in the design. The Wright Flyer doesn’t have much of a fuselage, but is mostly wing, along with some means for control by changing the shape of the wings (
wing warping
) in addition to the dual elevators and rudders. As an early attempt at controlled (powered) flight, it rather mimicked the way that birds control their flight by changing the shape of their wings.
As airplane designs evolved and saw explosive growth
throughout World War I
with practically weekly new designs, we saw the appearance of the now familiar design with a distinct fuselage and control scheme including wing-mounted
ailerons
and similar methods. Bi- and tri-planes gave way to monoplanes, and especially for passenger jets the tube fuselage ended up being extremely useful as a way to add more internal capacity by lengthening said tube or widen it (so-called wide-body jets).
Despite experiments with early BWBs such as the 1924
Westland Dreadnought
prototype, 1938’s
Miles M.30
, 1944’s
McDonnell XP-67
interceptor and Canadian
Burnelli CBY-3
, only these last two saw significant usage, albeit with the XP-67 failing US Army trials. The single CBY-3 airplane that was built did see significant use as a commercial airliner until its retirement in 1964 after which it was restored and moved into the collection of the New England Air Museum in Windsor Locks, Connecticut.
With seemingly an endless string of failures and one quite unremarkable non-military airplane resulting from BWB research by the 1960s, one might be excused for thinking that the BWB advantages are mostly hot air. Here the designs that began to appear by the 1970s began to turn heads, however.
Trade-offs
A B-2 Spirit from Whiteman Air Force Base, Mo., flies over an undisclosed location in the U.S. Pacific Command area of operations. (Credit:
Senior Airman Joel Pfiester
)
The advantages of blending the wings into the body are obvious: it first of all reduces the wetting surface (i.e. the wetting aspect ratio), meaning that there’s less of the airplane’s structure interacting with the atmosphere and thus less drag. Second, it makes it possible to turn more or all of the fuselage into part of the airfoil, and thus have it too generate lift. The disadvantages mostly lie in that it makes controlling the airplane more complex as you abandon the inherent aerodynamic stability of a tube. The more extreme examples of this issue are found in both flying wings and
lifting body
design.
A flying wing design such as the
Northrop B-2 Spirit
bomber is a purely fly-by-wire design, as only the lightning-fast reflexes of a computerized system can keep what is ultimately an inherently unstable aerodynamic shape stable. This is an approach which was pioneered for a large part in the
Lockheed F-117
airplane, which got referred to in such loving terms as for example ‘the flying brick’ due to its rather poor aerodynamic properties.
The move from a tube to a blended wing design can be likened to creating arrows that abandon the cylindrical shape for a blended fletching design: you lose the natural stability (and radar cross-section) that comes with a cylinder-with-fletching. This is of course great if you are designing an agile jet fighter that has to pull off dramatic course changes, or a long-distance (stealth) bomber, but less great if you’re designing a passenger airplane. In a naturally risk-averse industry like commercial aviation, this has kept airplane designs roughly as exciting and innovative as when the Boeing 737 first rolled off the production line, with mostly incremental tweaks and improvements, including to the engines.
End Of The Road
Airbus MAVERIC sub-scale model (Credit:
Airbus
, 2019)
Within the limitations of the tube-with-wings design incredible feats of optimizations have been performed over the decades, with each successive generation being a bit more efficient and their engines more quiet and easier on fuel consumption. New gains within these same limitations are however becoming increasingly harder and more expensive, while a commercial BWB jet liner could see multi-digit percentage fuel savings, increase space for cargo and passengers, while reducing the noise produced by the engines. All with just the first generation of such passenger airplanes.
Most of the fuel savings come simply from the reduced wetting area, and a boost to the airfoil ratio. Together with the ability to move the position of the engines and other tweaks, there is nothing about a passenger BWB airplane that’s truly groundbreaking or revolutionary. The main challenge will be to create an airplane that will both please organizations like the FAA and its international equivalents, and appeal to passengers. Here we have a number of startups and incumbents vying for the limelight, including Nautilus with its
Horizon airplane
, JetZero and Airbus, as well as NASA research projects like the
N3-X BWB
.
Of these efforts, the
Airbus MAVERIC
BWB is a scale model UAV that Airbus used to
test and validate
the basic BWB design, until 2020 to help design its next-generation airplanes. The Nautilus Horizon is roughly at this level too, with the 2016-founded company working towards building a first full-scale prototype. Meanwhile
JetZero got picked by the US Air Force
to work on BWB designs for cargo and in-air refueling tankers, which has them
cooperating with Northrop Grumman
on a full-scale model to demonstrate that is the direction that the US Air Force would want to move into.
Suffice it to say that tapping into the US defense budget is not a bad way to finance a startup, with the know-how and experiences translating into commercial cargo and passenger BWB airplanes. Currently the JetZero Pathfinder 1:8 scale model is test flying at Edwards Air Force Base, with JetZero hoping to have a
passenger airplane in service by 2030
.
New Skies
Passenger BWB airplanes would be both something very new and exciting, but also very old-school. In a way it would see the commercial aviation market hesitantly abandon the designs that it has been perfecting roughly since
Douglas DC-3
propeller airplanes roamed the skies in the 1930s. From new construction methods, new materials, jet engines instead of propellers, to big boosts in efficiency and automation, today’s commercial aviation is both alien and very familiar to that of the 1930s and 1950s.
Even as military airplanes began to morph into new shapes and experiment with pushing every single envelope they could find, commercial aviation became more concerned with not spending money while being dragged by regulators into an era of increased safety and efficiency even as leg space and carry-on luggage size decreased. Now it would seem that, perhaps ironically, the only way forward for commercial aviation is to look at designs that have long since been adopted by air forces.
While for cargo variants of commercial BWB airplanes the question of seating arrangements and windows aren’t very relevant, perhaps the biggest fight will be over how to partition up the much larger inner volume for self-loading freight (i.e. passengers), as SLF is rather partial to having access to a window, an aisle, as much leg space as possible and other such critter comforts. In
this 2020 article
about the Airbus MAVERIC scale model some sci-fi renders of potential interiors are shown, but as the first BWB passenger airplanes get shown off by the airlines that ordered them, there will surely be very strong opinions by the peanut gallery about whether flying tubes or BWB airplanes are ‘better’.
One thing is certain, however, with the current crisis enveloping Boeing and their lagging behind on fulfilling new airplane orders, if there ever was a decade ripe for big shifts in commercial aviation, this one might just be it. For now all we can do is strap ourselves in and see where things will be in six years or so from now.
Featured image: Rendering of a JetZero blended wing body aircraft with US Air Force markings. (Credit:
US Air Force
) | 69 | 29 | [
{
"comment_id": "8064546",
"author": "Panondorf",
"timestamp": "2024-11-21T15:09:26",
"content": "They will probably cram them just as tightly.So now, if the person on the outside edge gets up for some reason they won’t be climbing over 2 people but more like 15-20 people.Also, nobody is getting out... | 1,760,371,723.243848 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/11/21/measuring-the-mighty-roar-of-spacexs-starship-rocket/ | Measuring The Mighty Roar Of SpaceX’s Starship Rocket | Tom Nardi | [
"Science",
"Space"
] | [
"acoustics",
"sls",
"Space Launch System",
"SpaceX",
"starship"
] | SpaceX’s Starship is the most powerful launch system ever built, dwarfing even the mighty Saturn V both in terms of mass and total thrust. The scale of the vehicle is such that concerns have been raised about the impact each launch of the megarocket may have on the local environment. Which is why a team from Brigham Young University measured the sound produced during Starship’s fifth test flight and compared it to other launch vehicles.
Published in
JASA Express Letters,
the
paper explains the team’s methodology
for measuring the sound of a Starship launch at distances ranging from 10 to 35 kilometers (6 to 22 miles). Interestingly, measurements were also made of the Super Heavy booster as it returned to the launch pad and was ultimately caught — which included several sonic booms as well as the sound of the engines during the landing maneuver.
Sounds were measured at eight different locations.
The paper goes into considerable detail on how the sound produced Starship’s launch and recovery propagate, but the short version is that it’s just as incredibly loud as you’d imagine. Even at a distance of 10 km, the roar of the 33 Raptor engines at ignition came in at approximately 105 dBA — which the paper compares to a rock concert or chainsaw. Double that distance to 20 km, and the launch is still about as loud as a table saw. On the way back in, the sonic boom from the falling Super Heavy booster was enough to set off car alarms at 10 km from the launch pad, which the paper says comes out to a roughly 50% increase in loudness over the Concorde zooming by.
OK, so it’s loud. But how does it compare with other rockets? Running the numbers, the paper estimates that the noise produced during a Starship launch is at least ten times greater than that of the Falcon 9. Of course, this isn’t hugely surprising given the vastly different scales of the two vehicles. A somewhat closer comparison would be with the Space Launch System (SLS); the data indicates Starship is between four and six times as loud as NASA’s homegrown super heavy-lift rocket.
That last bit is probably the most surprising fact uncovered by this research. While Starship is the larger and more powerful of the two launch vehicles, the SLS is still putting out around half the total energy at liftoff. So shouldn’t Starship only be twice as loud? To try and explain this dependency, the paper
points to an earlier study done by two of the same authors
which compared the SLS with the Saturn V. In that paper, it was theorized that the arrangement of rocket nozzles on the bottom of the booster may play a part in the measured result. | 46 | 11 | [
{
"comment_id": "8064512",
"author": "Joshua",
"timestamp": "2024-11-21T12:40:33",
"content": "“SpaceX’s Starship is the most powerful launch system ever built, dwarfing even the mighty Saturn V both in terms of mass and total thrust. ”https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/N1_(rocket)http://www.astronautix.... | 1,760,371,723.07618 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/11/21/simple-hydrogen-generator-makes-bubbles-and-looks-cool/ | Simple Hydrogen Generator Makes Bubbles And Looks Cool | Lewin Day | [
"Science"
] | [
"electrolysis",
"gas generator",
"hydrogen"
] | Hydrogen! It’s a highly flammable gas that seems way too cool to be easy to come by. And yet, it’s actually trivial to make it out of water if you know how. [Maciej Nowak] has shown us
how to do just that with his latest build.
The project in question is a simple hydrogen generator that relies on the
electrolysis of water
. Long story short, run a current through water and you can split H
2
O molecules up and make H
2
and O
2
molecules instead. From water, you get both hydrogen to burn and the oxygen to burn it in! Even better, when you
do
burn the hydrogen, it combines with the oxygen to make water again! It’s all too perfect.
This particular generator uses a series of acrylic tanks. Each is fitted with electrodes assembled from threaded rods to pass current through water. The tops of the tanks have barbed fittings which allow the gas produced to be plumbed off to another storage vessel for later use. The video shows us the construction of the generator, but we also get to see it in action—both in terms of generating gas from the water, and that gas later being used in some fun combustion experiments.
Pedants will point out this isn’t really
just
a hydrogen generator, because it’s generating oxygen too. Either way, it’s still cool. We’ve featured
a few similar builds before as well
.
(Pedantic editor’s note: Because this build doesn’t separate the H
2
from the O
2
, what you get is a stoichiometric mix, or HHO, or “
Oxyhydrogen
“. By virtue of being in exactly the right ratio to combust, this stuff is significantly more explosive than pure H
2
. Be careful!) | 18 | 7 | [
{
"comment_id": "8064483",
"author": "David Given",
"timestamp": "2024-11-21T10:06:41",
"content": "Just be aware that if you don’t separate out the hydrogen and oxygen, what you get is a stoichiometrically ideal explosive mixture of the two gases, and it’s hugely dangerous. Pure hydrogen is pretty ... | 1,760,371,723.135389 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/11/20/simple-stack-of-ferrites-shows-how-fluxgate-magnetometers-work/ | Simple Stack Of Ferrites Shows How Fluxgate Magnetometers Work | Dan Maloney | [
"Misc Hacks"
] | [
"ferrite",
"fluxgate",
"magnetics",
"magnetometer"
] | Have you ever wondered how a magnetometer works? We sure have, which was why we were happy to stumble upon
this article on simple homebrew fluxgate magnetometers
.
As [Maurycy] explains, clues to how a fluxgate magnetometer works can be found right in the name. We all know what happens when a current is applied to a coil of wire wrapped around an iron or ferrite core — it makes an electromagnet. Wrap another coil around the same core, and you’ve got a simple transformer.
Now, power the first coil, called the drive coil, with alternating current and measure the induced current on the second, or sense coil. Unexpected differences between the current in the drive coil and the sense coil are due to any external magnetic field. The difference indicates the strength of the field. Genius!
For [Maurycy]’s homebrew version, binocular ferrite cores were stacked one on top of each other and strung together with a loop of magnet wire passing through the lined-up holes in the stack. That entire assembly formed the drive coil, which was wrapped with copper foil to thwart eddy currents. The sense coil was made by wrapping another length of magnet wire around the drive coil package; [Maurycy] found that this orthogonal of coils worked better than an antiparallel coil setup at reducing interference from the powerful drive coil field.
Driving the magnetometer required adding a MOSFET amp to give a function generator a little more oomph. [Maurycy] mentions that scope probes will attenuate the weak sense coil current, so we assume that the sense coil output goes right into the oscilloscope via coax. Calibrating the instrument was accomplished with a homebrew coil and some simple calculations.
This was a great demo of magnetometry methods and some of the intricacies of measuring weak fields with simple instruments. We’ve covered
fluxgate magnetometer basics
before and even talked about how they made
pre-GPS car navigation
possible. | 8 | 4 | [
{
"comment_id": "8064445",
"author": "Avishay",
"timestamp": "2024-11-21T07:31:42",
"content": "Am I the only one seeing a dead cockroach lying on the table?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "8064470",
"author": "make piece not war",
... | 1,760,371,723.662886 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/11/20/stepping-on-lego-for-science/ | Stepping On LEGO For Science | Kristina Panos | [
"Toy Hacks"
] | [
"ballistic gel",
"brittle brown",
"caltrop",
"lego"
] | You might say that the worst LEGO to step on is any given piece that happens to get caught underfoot, but have you ever thought about what the worst one would really be? For us, those little caltrops come to mind most immediately, and we’d probably be satisfied with believing that was the answer. But not [Nate Scovill].
He had to quantitatively find out one way or another
.
And no, the research did not involve stepping on one of each of the thousands of LEGO pieces in existence. [Nate] started by building a test rig that approximated the force of his own 150 lb. frame stepping on each piece under scrutiny and seeing what it did to a cardboard substrate.
And how did [Nate] narrow down which pieces to try? He took to the proverbial streets and asked redditors and Discordians to help him come up with a list of subjects.
If you love LEGO to the point where you can’t bear to see it destroyed, then this video is not for you. But if you need to know the semi-scientific answer as badly as we did, then go for it. The best part is round two, when [Nate] makes a foot out of ballistics gel to rate the worst from the first test. So, what’s the worst LEGO to step on? The answer may surprise you.
And what’s more dangerous than plain LEGO? A
LEGO Snake
, we reckon. | 34 | 11 | [
{
"comment_id": "8064394",
"author": "Garth",
"timestamp": "2024-11-21T03:05:35",
"content": "Japan is building giant Legos to put around their cities not to stop Tsunamis but to protect against the next Godzilla attack.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comm... | 1,760,371,723.746197 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/11/20/a-tube-stereo-amplifier-from-scratch/ | A Tube Stereo Amplifier, From Scratch | Jenny List | [
"home entertainment hacks"
] | [
"audio",
"tube amplifier",
"tube audio"
] | A conventional tube amplifier has a circuit whose fundamentals were well in place around a hundred years ago, so there are few surprises to be found in building one today. Nevertheless, building one is still a challenge, as [Mike Freda shows us
with a stereo amplifier
in the video below the break.
The tubes in question are the 12AU7 double triode and 6L6 tetrode, in this case brand new PSVANE parts from China. The design is a very conventional single-ended class A circuit, with both side of the double triode being used for extra gain driving the tetrode. The output uses a tapped transformer with the tap going to the other grid in the tertode, something we dimly remember as being an “ultra-linear” circuit.
There’s an element of workshop entertainment in the video, but aside from that we think it’s the process of characterising the amp and getting its voltages right which is the take-away here. It’s not something many of us do these days, so despite the apparent simplicity of the circuit it’s worth a look.
These modern tubes come from a variety of different sources,
we’ve attempted to track them down in the past
. | 17 | 7 | [
{
"comment_id": "8064370",
"author": "craig",
"timestamp": "2024-11-21T01:18:18",
"content": "I’m usually the first to be frustrated by a linked video but this one was excellent and very much worth watching. Take-aways: a modestly equipped shop and hand tools can lead to great results. I don’t know ... | 1,760,371,723.798179 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/11/20/a-cyberpunk-pocketwatch/ | A Cyberpunk Pocketwatch | Navarre Bartz | [
"clock hacks"
] | [
"cyberpunk",
"horology",
"Lock'n'Watch",
"pocket watch",
"timekeeping",
"watch"
] | For a time, pocketwatches were all the rage, but they were eventually supplanted by the wristwatch. [abe] built this
cyberpunk Lock’n’Watch
to explore an alternate history for the once trendy device.
The build was inspired by the chunky looks of Casio sport watches and other plastic consumer electronics from the 1980s and 90s. The electronics portion of this project relies heavily on a 1.28″ Seeed Studio Round Display and a Raspberry Pi 2040 XIAO microcontroller board. The final product features a faux segmented display for information in almost the same color scheme as your favorite website.
[abe] spent a good deal of the time on this project iterating on the bezel and case to hold the electronics in this delightfully anachronistic enclosure. We appreciated the brief aside on the philosophical differences between Blender, TinkerCAD, and Fusion360. Once everything was assembled, he walks us through some of joys of debugging hardware issues with a screen flicker problem. We think the end result really fulfills the vision of a 1980s pocketwatch and that it might be just the thing to go with your
cyberdeck
.
We’ve seen
accelerometers stuffed into old pocketwatch cases
, a more useful
smart pocketwatch
, or you could
learn how to repair and restore vintage watches
. | 20 | 7 | [
{
"comment_id": "8064302",
"author": "Joshua",
"timestamp": "2024-11-20T22:13:46",
"content": "Is it water-proof?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "8064308",
"author": "scott_tx",
"timestamp": "2024-11-20T22:33:38",
"cont... | 1,760,371,724.178522 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/11/20/floss-weekly-episode-810-a-rising-wallet-pays-for-all-boats/ | FLOSS Weekly Episode 810: A Rising Wallet Pays For All Boats | Jonathan Bennett | [
"Hackaday Columns",
"Podcasts"
] | [
"FLOSS Weekly",
"linux",
"raspberry pi"
] | This week,
Jonathan Bennett
,
Randal Schwartz
, and
Aaron Newcomb
chat about Linux, the challenges with using system modules like the Raspberry Pi, challenges with funding development, and more!
Did you know you can watch the live recording of the show Right on
our YouTube Channel
? Have someone you’d like us to interview? Let us know, or contact the guest and have them contact us!
Take a look at the schedule here
.
Direct Download
in DRM-free MP3.
If you’d rather read along,
here’s the transcript for this week’s episode
.
Places to follow the FLOSS Weekly Podcast:
Spotify
RSS | 2 | 2 | [
{
"comment_id": "8064300",
"author": "mista4a",
"timestamp": "2024-11-20T22:10:06",
"content": "I think title is wrong. Pi4j was last week",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "8064346",
"author": "Jonathan Bennett",
"timestamp": "2024-11-21T0... | 1,760,371,724.217694 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/11/20/if-life-gives-you-lemons-build-this-lemontron/ | If Life Gives You Lemons, Build This Lemontron | Heidi Ulrich | [
"3d Printer hacks",
"Tool Hacks"
] | [
"3d printer",
"journeymaker",
"kralyn",
"lemontron",
"portable 3D printer",
"positron printer"
] | What if your 3D printer could fit in a box of filament but still rival the build plate size of heavyweights? Enter the Lemontron, a free and open source portable printer making waves in the maker community for its compact form factor and budget-friendly price.
Watch [James]’ video on his build story here
. Built around the Positron drive—
a unique mechanism introduced by [Kralyn] in 2022
—the Lemontron is the latest evolution of this innovative design. Although Kralyn mysteriously disappeared, their work inspired other projects like the Positron JourneyMaker and this Lemontron.
The Lemontron started as a unibody chassis mod for the JourneyMaker but grew into a complete redesign, cutting costs in half without sacrificing performance. By eliminating expensive CNC parts, it’s entirely made from off-the-shelf components, bringing the build cost to just $413. Compare that to $800 for the JourneyMaker and $699 for the Positron v3.2 kit.
Recent video updates show the Lemontron in action, printing impressively large and complex models. It tackled a marble run with 80-degree unsupported overhangs and a ‘comically large’
Benchy
, proving its capability. Its compact design, paired with robust performance, is an exciting alternative for tinkerers seeking quality on a budget.
The Lemontron is in its final development stages, with frequent updates dropping on its YouTube channel. If you’re in the market for a more “traditional” mini-printer, check out
this cool suitcase model from 2014
. | 12 | 2 | [
{
"comment_id": "8064280",
"author": "Maggie",
"timestamp": "2024-11-20T21:02:31",
"content": "If life gives you lemons, have a lemonparty!",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "8064391",
"author": "Bunsen",
"timestamp": "2024-11-21T... | 1,760,371,724.380707 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/11/20/with-core-one-prusas-open-source-hardware-dream-quietly-dies/ | With Core ONE, Prusa’s Open Source Hardware Dream Quietly Dies | Tom Nardi | [
"3d Printer hacks",
"Current Events",
"Featured",
"Slider"
] | [
"MK4S",
"open source hardware",
"oshw",
"prusa",
"Prusa Core ONE"
] | Yesterday, Prusa Research officially unveiled their next printer, the Core ONE. Going over the features and capabilities of this new machine, it’s clear that Prusa has kept a close eye on the rapidly changing desktop 3D printer market and designed a machine to better position themselves within a field of increasingly capable machines from other manufacturers.
While some saw the incremental upgrades of the i3 MK4 as being too conservative, the Core ONE ticks all the boxes of what today’s consumer is looking for — namely high-speed CoreXY movement with a fully enclosed chamber — while still offering the build quality, upgradability, and support that the company has built its reputation on. Put simply it’s one of the most exciting products they’ve introduced in a long time, and exactly the kind of machine that many Prusa fans have been waiting for.
Unfortunately, there’s one feature that’s ominously absent from the
Core ONE announcement post
. It’s easy to overlook, and indeed, most consumers probably won’t even know it’s missing. But for those of us who are concerned with such matters, it’s an unspoken confirmation that an era has finally come to an end.
With the Core ONE, Prusa Research is no longer in the business of making open source 3D printer hardware, but that doesn’t mean that the printer isn’t hackable. It’s complicated, so read on.
Death by a Thousand Cuts
To say that Prusa Research pivoting away from the open source hardware (OSHW) principles that guided the company, and indeed the 3D printing community, through its early years is a disappointment would be quite an understatement. It’s a crushing blow. One which critics will use to call into question the viability of building a sustainable business model around OSHW. But it’s also not hard to see how we got to this point.
Prusa XL
The first warning sign came back in 2021,
with the announcement of the Prusa XL
. With this new high-end printer, the company seemed uncharacteristically hesitant to open things up, which frankly wasn’t entirely unreasonable. The pricing of the XL put it closer into the professional market than a traditional hobbyist machine, and there were some new features like tool changing and a segmented heated bed that were unique enough that they’d want to keep the details under wraps until the machine at least got a foothold in the market. So if Prusa wanted to play this one a little closer to the chest, so be it.
But things took a concerning turn last year with the
release of the i3 MK4
. Although Prusa still called the printer open source in their marketing, the reality was a bit more complicated. While at least some of the printer’s technical information was made available, especially the elements that were inherited from the earlier i3 models, there were several rather large omissions.
Printable parts were available only as STLs, there were no design files released for the printer’s control board, and the Nextruder (which was introduced with the XL) remained all but completely proprietary. Many argued that the MK4 didn’t meet the standards that Prusa had set with their previous printers, and that continuing to call it open source was misleading.
If it wasn’t already obvious that Prusa’s commitment to open source was beginning to waiver,
Josef’s post on the Prusa Blog
made his position abundantly clear. Framed as a call for discussion, the post outlined his feelings on the open source community and what he perceived as the failures of common licenses such as the GPL. While he said that the company still intended to make their machines open, the writing was clearly on the wall.
A New Chapter for Prusa
To be clear, the Core ONE is of critical strategic importance to Prusa. The company needed a revamped machine to combat increased competition from Chinese printer manufacturers, and while it’s not being marketed as a replacement for the i3 MK4, it’s not hard to see the direction the market is moving in. The i3 is a workhorse, and won’t be going away anytime soon, but the chances that it will see a MK5 at this point seem exceptionally slim.
Prusa will give you STLs for the Nextruder, but that’s about it.
But the Core ONE also represents a mostly clean slate design, one that shares relatively little with the i3. This frees Prusa from any obligation, perceived or otherwise, to continue releasing the printer’s design files. Indeed, the term “open source” only appears once in the announcement post for the printer — and that’s when referring to the firmware and slicer code, which are.
Although we don’t have documentation or an assembly guide for the Core ONE or the MK4S->Core upgrade kits yet, it looks as if very little of Prusa’s remaining open source hardware has been brought forward.
Potentially the Core ONE is using some variation of the
CC BY-SA 4.0 licensed MK52 magnetic heated bed
, but beyond that, we already know that Prusa is still keeping the design files for major components such as the Nextruder and xBuddy 32-bit control board under wraps for the time being.
Not Open, But Hackable
So we know that Prusa isn’t advertising the Core ONE design as open source hardware, and that only limited technical data has been released for the few components and subsystems that it inherits from the XL and MK4S. But what does that actually mean for users like us?
That’s where things get a little tricky. While Prusa’s newer printers certainly do not meet the literal requirements of OSHW, they’re still remarkably transparent in a world of proprietary black boxes. We might not get the design files for the printed parts in these new machines, but you’ll get STLs that you can run off if you need a replacement. We can also be fairly sure that Prusa will continue their tradition of releasing wiring schematics for the Core ONE as they’ve done with
essentially all of their previous printers
, which is more than we can say for the vast majority of consumer products.
While the lack of design files for these new Prusa printers is unfortunate on a philosophical level, it’s hard to argue that they’re any less repairable, upgradable, or hackable than their predecessors. In fact, Prusa’s actually made at least one improvement in that department — announcing that
breaking off the control board’s “Appendix” security device
and installing a new firmware will no longer void the printer’s warranty.
An increasingly inaccurate message on the
Prusa website
.
We should also consider that even Prusa’s earlier printers have not always been as open as the company would perhaps like us to believe. Sure, for the Prusa Mini you could hop on
GitHub and grab the KiCad files for its mainboard
, and the design files for the i3 up until the MK3 are available as
GPLv2 licensed OpenSCAD code.
But the company has never actually provided a complete Bill of Materials for their printers, and
even after years of requests from the community
, they have still yet to release the source code for their bootloader as they consider it a separate project from the main GPL-licensed firmware.
Prusa has always used a somewhat piecemeal method of releasing the source and design files for their products. But it’s worked for them up to this point. The bottom line is, makers and hackers will still have plenty to work with, even if things aren’t quite as open as we’d prefer.
Becoming Your Own Enemy
On a personal note, I find myself conflicted. I’d argue that the
i3 MK3 is one of the best purchases I’ve ever made
, and there’s no doubt in my mind that the “Prusa Experience” — support, reliability, upgradability — is worth spending the extra money on. I’m also confident that the Core ONE is precisely the kind of machine Prusa needed to remain competitive in today’s market.
Who’s copying who?
At the same time, there were issues that I was willing to overlook because the company was producing open source hardware. When a shipping date slipped, or a firmware update introduced a new issue, I let it slide because it was for the greater good. But now that they’re no longer calling their printers open source, I can’t help but feel some of that goodwill evaporating — and I’m probably not the only one having similar thoughts.
Ultimately, the part that bothers me the most about this change in Prusa’s approach is that it all seems predicated on a bogeyman that I’m not convinced actually exists. The company line is that releasing the source for their printers allows competitors to churn out cheap clones of their hardware — but where are they?
Let’s be honest, Bambu didn’t need to copy any of Prusa’s hardware to take their lunch money. You can only protect your edge in the market if you’re ahead of the game to begin with, and if anything, Prusa is currently playing catch-up to the rest of the industry that has moved on to faster designs. The only thing Prusa produces that their competitors are actually able to take advantage of is their slicer, but that’s another story entirely. (And of course,
it
is
still open source,
and widely forked.)
So will the Prusa Core ONE be a good printer? Almost certainly. Will I buy one? Very likely. But part of me will always be disappointed that the guy with the open source hardware logo tattoo took his ball and went home as soon as the game starting getting tough. | 151 | 38 | [
{
"comment_id": "8064225",
"author": "Stappers",
"timestamp": "2024-11-20T18:59:25",
"content": "Best “buyer beware” notice I have seen in a looonng time.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "8065377",
"author": "Jon Bonte",
"timest... | 1,760,371,724.620463 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/11/18/hacking-haptics-the-19-sensor-patch-bringing-touch-to-life/ | Hacking Haptics: The 19-Sensor Patch Bringing Touch To Life | Heidi Ulrich | [
"News",
"Wearable Hacks"
] | [
"feedback",
"haptic",
"haptics",
"hexagonal",
"patch",
"sensory",
"tactile feedback",
"touch",
"wearable"
] | On November 6th, Northwestern University introduced a groundbreaking leap in haptic technology, and it’s worth every bit of attention now, even two weeks later. Full details are
in their original article
. This innovation brings tactile feedback into the future with a hexagonal matrix of 19 mini actuators embedded in a flexible silicone mesh. It’s the stuff of dreams for hackers and tinkerers looking for the next big thing in wearables.
What makes this patch truly cutting-edge? First, it offers multi-dimensional feedback: pressure, vibration, and twisting sensations—imagine a wearable that can nudge or twist your skin instead of just buzzing. Unlike the simple, one-note “buzzers” of old devices, this setup adds depth and realism to interactions. For those in the VR community or anyone keen on building sensory experiences, this is a game changer.
But the real kicker is its energy management. The patch incorporates a ‘bistable’ mechanism, meaning it stays in two stable positions without continuous power, saving energy by recycling elastic energy stored in the skin. Think of it like a rubber band that snaps back and releases stored energy during operation. The result? Longer battery life and efficient power usage—perfect for tinkering with extended use cases.
And it’s not all fun and games (though VR fans should rejoice). This patch turns sensory substitution into practical tech for the visually impaired, using LiDAR data and Bluetooth to transmit surroundings into tactile feedback. It’s like a white cane but integrated with data-rich, spatial awareness feedback—a boost for accessibility.
Fancy more stories like this? Earlier this year, we wrote about these
lightweight haptic gloves
—for those who notice, featuring a similar hexagonal array of 19 sensors—a pattern for success? You can read the original article on TechXplore
here
. | 14 | 5 | [
{
"comment_id": "8063673",
"author": "threeve",
"timestamp": "2024-11-19T03:11:29",
"content": "I don’t know why hexagonal things attached to your skin always freak me out a little. Maybe it’s because on a passing glance, you might think you have had bees installed on you.",
"parent_id": null,
... | 1,760,371,724.270564 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/11/18/a-very-fast-camera-slider-for-the-glam-shot/ | A Very Fast Camera Slider For The Glam Shot | Danie Conradie | [
"digital cameras hacks"
] | [
"camera gimbal",
"camera slider",
"high-speed video camera"
] | High-speed photography with the camera on a fast-moving robot arm has become all the rage at red-carpet events, but this GlamBOT setup comes with a hefty price tag. To get similar visual effects on a much lower budget [Henry Kidman] built a
large, very fast camera slider
. As is usually the case with such projects, it’s harder than it seems.
The original GlamBOT has a full 6 degrees of freedom, but many of the shots it’s famous for are just a slightly curved path between two points. That curve adds a few zeros to the required budget, so a straight slider was deemed good enough for [Henry]’s purposes. The first remaining challenge is speed. V1 one used linear rails made from shower curtain rails, with 3D printed sliders driven by a large stepper motor via a belt. The stepper motor wasn’t powerful enough to achieve the desired acceleration, so [Henry] upgraded to a more powerful 6 hp servo motor.
Unfortunately, the MDF and 3D-printed frame components were not rigid enough for the upgraded torque. It caused several crashes into the ends of the frame as the belt slipped and failed to stop the camera platform. The frame was rebuilt from steel, with square tubing for the rails and steel plates for the brackets. It provided the required rigidity, but the welding had warped the rails which led to a bumpy ride for the camera so he had to use active stabilization on the gimbal and camera. This project was filled with setback and challenges, but in the end the results look very promising with great slow motion shots on a mock red carpet.
We’ve seen
DIY camera sliders
of all shapes and sizes, including ones made from
skateboard trucks
and
wood
, and even a
measuring tape
. | 7 | 1 | [
{
"comment_id": "8063620",
"author": "Bobtato",
"timestamp": "2024-11-19T00:20:25",
"content": "This is my first time thinking about it, but my immediate thought would be, if the camera’s moving that fast, then it doesn’t need to be supported; you could just throw it, and rely on wires under tension... | 1,760,371,724.121025 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/11/18/crowdsourcing-ionosphere-data-with-phones/ | Crowdsourcing Ionosphere Data With Phones | Al Williams | [
"gps hacks",
"Science"
] | [
"atmosphere",
"ionosphere"
] | How do you collect a lot of data about the ionosphere? Well, you could use sounding rockets or specialized gear. Or maybe you can just conscript a
huge number of cell phones
. That was the approach taken by Google researchers in a recent paper in Nature.
The idea is that GPS and similar navigation satellites measure transit time of the satellite signal, but the ionosphere alters the propagation of those signals. In fact, this effect is one of the major sources of error in GPS navigation. Most receivers have an 8-parameter model of the ionosphere that reduces that error by about 50%.
However, by measuring the difference in time between signals of different frequencies, the phone can estimate the total electron current (TEC) of the ionosphere between the receiver and the satellite. This requires a dual-frequency receiver, of course.
This isn’t a new idea. There are a large number of fixed-position stations that make this measurement to contribute to a worldwide database. However, the roughly 9,000 stations can’t compete with cell phones everywhere. The paper outlines how Android smartphones can do calculations on the GPS propagation delays to report the TEC numbers.
Hams often
study
the ionosphere. So do
sounding rocket
s. | 19 | 7 | [
{
"comment_id": "8063560",
"author": "Reg",
"timestamp": "2024-11-18T21:23:23",
"content": "That’s a very nice example of huge volumes of dirty data trumping a smaller amount of better data in the right hands.The ‘anonymouization’ improves the statistics of the estimates. Needs a ham radio site t... | 1,760,371,724.323583 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/11/18/gloriously-impractical-overclocking-the-raspberry-pi-5-to-3-6-ghz/ | Gloriously Impractical: Overclocking The Raspberry Pi 5 To 3.6 GHz | Maya Posch | [
"Raspberry Pi"
] | [
"overclocking",
"Raspberry Pi 5"
] | The Raspberry Pi 5 board strapped to a liquid nitrogen cooler with an ElmorLabs AMPLE-X1 power board attached. (Credit: Pieter-Jan Plaisier, SkatterBencher.com)
As impractical as most overclocking of computers is these days, there is still a lot of fun to be had along the way. Case in point being [Pieter-Jan Plaisier]’s
recent liquid nitrogen-aided overclocking
of an unsuspecting Raspberry Pi 5 and its BCM2712 SoC. Previous OCing attempts with air cooling by [Pieter] had left things off at a paltry 3 GHz from the default 2.4 GHz, with the power management IC (PMIC) circuitry on the SBC turning out to be the main limiting factor.
The main change here was thus to go for liquid nitrogen (LN
2
) cooling, with a small chipset LN
2
pot to fit on the SBC. Another improvement was the application of a NUMA (non-uniform memory addressing) patch to force the BCM2712’s memory controller to utilize better RAM chip parallelism.
With these changes, the OC could now hit 3.6 GHz, but at 3.7 GHz, the system would always crash. It was time to further investigate the PMIC issues.
The PMIC imposes voltage configuration limitations and turns the system off at high power consumption levels. A solution there was to replace said circuitry with an
ElmorLabs AMPLE-X1
power supply and definitively void the SBC’s warranty. This involves removing inductors and removing solder mask to attach the external power wires. Yet even with these changes, the SoC frequency had trouble scaling, which is why an
external clock board
was used to replace the 54 MHz oscillator on the PCB. Unfortunately, this also failed to improve the final overclock.
We covered the
ease of OCing to 3 GHz
previously, and no doubt some of us are wondering whether the
new SoC stepping
may OC better. Regardless, if you want to get a faster small system without jumping through all those hoops, there are definitely better (and cheaper) options. But you do miss out on the fun of refilling the LN
2
pot every couple of minutes.
Thanks to [Stephen Walters] for the tip. | 9 | 3 | [
{
"comment_id": "8063529",
"author": "Maggie",
"timestamp": "2024-11-18T20:19:44",
"content": "For over a decade I had C2D E8400 running stable at 3.6 GHz on stock air cooler so meh.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "8063562",
"author": ... | 1,760,371,724.43322 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/11/18/do-you-dream-in-color/ | Do You Dream In Color? | Al Williams | [
"Featured",
"Interest",
"Rants",
"Slider"
] | [
"dreams",
"rants",
"reality"
] | According to the Sapir–Whorf hypothesis, our language influences how we think and experience the world. That’s easy to imagine. Certainly our symbolism of mathematics influences how we calculate. Can you imagine doing moderately complex math with Roman numerals or without zero or negative numbers? But recently I was reminded that technological media also influences our perception of reality, and I have a Hackaday post to thank for it.
The post in question was about color TV
. When I was a kid, most people had black and white TVs, although there were color sets. Even if you had a color set, many shows and movies were in black and white. Back then, many people still shot black and white film in their cameras, too, for many reasons. To make matters worse, I grew up in a small town, reading books from the local library that were ten or twenty years behind the times.
At some point, I read a statistic that said that most people dream in black and white. You may find this surprising, as I’ll bet you dream in color. It turns out, how people dream may have changed over the years and still and motion photography may be the reason.
The Post
In the post, I posed a question I’ve thought about many times: Did people dream in black and white before the advent of photography? It was kind of an off-hand remark to open the post, but many people reacted to it in the comments. They seemed surprised that I would ask that because, of course, everyone dreams in color.
I asked a few people I knew who also seemed very surprised that I would assume anyone ever dreams in color. But I was sure I had been told that sometime in the past. Time to hit the Internet and find out if that was incorrect or a false memory or something else. Turns out, it was indeed something else.
The Science
Charlie Chaplin’s “
Modern Times
“
A
scientific paper from 2008
held the answer. It turns out that science started asking questions like this in the early 1900s. Up through the 1940s, people overwhelmingly reported dreaming in black and white, at least most of the time. Color dreams were in the minority, although not unheard of.
Then something changed. Studies that occurred in the 1960s and later, show exactly the opposite. People almost always dream in color and rarely in black and white. Of course, that correlates well with the rise of color photos, movies, and television. What’s more is, while there is no scientific evidence gathering about earlier times, there is a suspicious lack of, for example, a Shakespeare quote about “The gray world of slumber…” or anything else that would hint that the writer was dreaming in black and white.
Interpretation
Judging from the paper, it seems clear that most people agree that color media played a role in this surprising finding. What they can’t agree on is why. It does seem unlikely that your dreams really change based on your media consumption. But it is possible that your recollection changes. This is particularly true since the way researchers acquired data changed over that time period, too. But even if the data doesn’t show that you dreamed in black and white, it did show that you
remembered
dreaming in black and white.
For that matter, it isn’t clear that anyone understands how you experience dreams visually, anyway. It isn’t like the back of your eyelids are little movie screens. You don’t actually see anything in a dream, you only remember seeing it.
The Question
If something as simple as black-and-white movies and TV can change how we perceive dreams, you have to wonder how much tech is changing our reality experience in other ways. Do we live differently because we have cell phones? Or the Internet? Will virtual reality alter our dream lives? It would be interesting to fast-forward a century and see what historians say about our time and how strangely we perceive reality today. | 87 | 33 | [
{
"comment_id": "8063474",
"author": "DMP",
"timestamp": "2024-11-18T18:06:31",
"content": "I suspect there are a lot of people wondering “You dream in pictures?”",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "8063702",
"author": "Ostracus",
... | 1,760,371,724.861149 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/11/18/exploring-the-gakken-fx-micro-computer/ | Exploring The Gakken FX Micro-Computer | Alexander Rowsell | [
"computer hacks",
"Retrocomputing",
"Software Hacks"
] | [
"computer kit",
"early computer",
"gakken",
"microcomputer trainer",
"TMS1100"
] | Early computer kits aimed at learning took all sorts of forms, from full-fledged computer kits like the Altair 8800 to the ready-made MicroBee Computer-In-A-Book. For those just wanting to dip their toes in the computing world, many low-cost computer “trainers” were released, and Japan had some awesome ones. [Jason Jacques]
shows off his Gakken Micro-Computer FX-System
(or is it the FX-Computer? Or maybe the FX-Micom? It seems like they couldn’t make up their minds). In any event, it was a combination microcomputer and I/O building blocks system running a custom version of the Texas Instrument TMS1100 microprocessor. Specifically designed to introduce users to the world of computing, the included guide is very detailed and includes 100 example programs and lots of information on how all the opcodes work.
This 4-bit system is similar to the Kenbak computer, with a very simple instruction set and limited address space. However, adding electronic components in plastic blocks brings this machine to a new level of interactivity. Connections can be made to and from the microcomputer block, as well as to the on-board speaker and simple input/output pins. The example circuit displayed on the front cover of the box enables the microcontroller to connect to the speaker and allows a switch to light up a small incandescent bulb. We can imagine many users wiring up all sorts of extra components to their FX-Computers, and with the advent of 3D printing, it wouldn’t be difficult to create new blocks to insert into the grid.
This exact model was eventually released in the US in a modified (and possibly slightly less cool-looking) version available through Radio Shack called the
Science Fair Microcomputer Trainer
. It’s reminiscent of the ubiquitous 100-in-1 circuit kits but with the same microcomputer block added in. Both are very difficult to find, and the fact that [Jason] has both in near-immaculate condition is simply amazing! He writes some self-modifying code, taking advantage of the fact that the “variable” storage and registers are really just RAM locations. Be sure to watch the full video to see the wonderfully preserved original machine running some hand-assembled 4-bit programs! We’ve also seen people
supercharge
the Radio Shack version with a new CPU. | 13 | 8 | [
{
"comment_id": "8063470",
"author": "paulvdh",
"timestamp": "2024-11-18T18:01:20",
"content": "Back in the ’80-ies I found the Microprofessor (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Micro-Professor_MPF-I) a very intriguing piece of kit. It had all sorts of extension modules, and it was also easy to make yo... | 1,760,371,724.923913 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/11/18/keebin-with-kristina-the-one-with-the-typo/ | Keebin’ With Kristina: The One With The Typo | Kristina Panos | [
"Hackaday Columns",
"Peripherals Hacks",
"Slider"
] | [
"beam spring",
"cyberdeck",
"diy trackball",
"foot keyboard",
"ibm",
"IBM 5251",
"pedals",
"portable computer",
"thicc",
"trackball",
"trackball mouse",
"typo",
"Typo typewriter"
] | Ceci n’est pas une
keyboard
, sure. But it’s keyboard-adjacent, and how. [Joshua Bemenderfer]’s wrists are tired of moving off the keyboard in order to mouse, and he
decided to create a trackball that can sit just below the Space bar
. The idea is to get rid of the regular mouse entirely if this works out.
Image by [Joshua Bemenderfer] via
Hackaday.IO
And sure,
the Ploopy family
of open-source mice would welcome him with open arms, but they don’t come cheap. [Joshua]’s plan here is to make something for under $10. Ideally, less than $5.
Starting with an off-the-shelf trackball, the first BOM came in around $25 if you throw in $5 for the 3D printing of the case. [Joshua] added some cheap ceramic bearings to make it better. Since this was still too high, he turned to the internals of cheap mice.
Trial and error has resulted in a 99-cent special from Ali being the idea candidate. There are even cheaper mice to be had, but this one has an ideal layout for doing a bit of surgery. It also requires remapping since [Joshua] is flipping the sensor upside down and using a POM ball on top of it. Now he just needs to figure out how to add buttons and make them split keyboard-friendly.
[crazymittens-r]’s Crazy ArcPedals Glow-Up
You may remember [crazymittens-r] from such keyboards as
the ArcBoard, featured in Keebin’ a few months ago
. There were pedals pictured as well, but the keyboard out-shined them at the time.
Well, not anymore
.
Image by [crazymittens-r] via
reddit
Holding down keys like Shift brings fiery pain and/or numbness to [crazymittens-r]’s arms, hands, and fingers that is brutally annoying, so the idea is to offload all possible duties to the feet. After all, they’re just sitting there doing nothing. Isn’t it time you put your feet to work for you?
With eight buttons per foot, per-key LEDs with RGB indicators, and a reportedly very comfy foot perch, what more could you want? Even so, [crazymittens-r] warns that although you can build MK3, you should probably wait for MK4.
Having tried to solve the foot keyboard problem myself
, I can attest that that the real challenge is twofold: you need buttons that are comfortable for foot actuation, and they need to be located in comfortable places. And mounting them at roughly 90° to the floor isn’t the answer, either, but I was working with a cheap step stool, not an awesome 3D-printed scratch build. If you could benefit from pedals at all (and you probably can), then consider giving these a go. I can’t even imagine how cool MK4 are going to look.
The Centerfold: This Thicc Work Setup
Image by
[Kenwood1994]
[Kirkwood1994] via
reddit
Even the wrist rest
. So that there is an IBM 5251 beam spring keyboard that is now controlled via QMK. (
Here’s what a beam spring sounds like, BTW.
Be sure to stick around for the part where the solenoid is on!) Note the Radio Shack poster, which
[Kenwood1994]
[Kirkwood1994] says is for the CoCo 1.
Do you rock a sweet set of peripherals on a screamin’ desk pad?
Send me a picture
along with your handle and all the gory details, and you could be featured here!
Historical Clackers: the Typo Is Basically a Mystery
According to The Antikey Chop
, nothing is known about this cast iron and steel typewriter aside from what is possible to deduce from its physical characteristics. Not the year it was created, not the make, nor the origin. (Presumably, Typo is the model.)
Image via
The Antikey Chop
This is an index typewriter, which means it works like an old embossing labelmaker, although the index itself is missing in this specimen. The matching dare-I-call-it daisy wheel type element is also missing here. Also sadly absent are the wood base it was mounted to, which bore a faux alligator skin top.
In order to type, the disc pivots toward the platen. Instead of spinning the brass arrow to select the character, you would turn that knob on the left. The three keys are for spacing, carriage release, and printing. The machine used an inked ribbon.
There is a second known version of this typewriter branded the Popular. The two are slightly different, and it is theorized that the Popular came first. The Antikey Chop’s theory is that these machines originated in Europe, but not England. Maybe Spain because of the way “Popular” is spelled.
This Typo might have been a German export as it was found in Germany, and “patent” is spelled as it would be in a German text.
ICYMI: Portable Computer Looks Good with Wood
We’ve seen our fair share of cyberdecks and portable computers over the years. Most are some form of plastic, and this one is no exception, having been built into a sturdy plastic case.
But the difference here is in the addition of wooden panels
.
Image via
YouTube
In the video, [DIY Tinkerer] starts off with the guts, deciding to build the thing around the familiar Raspberry Pi 4. This is married up with a 9000 mAh battery, plus a power jack on the front allows it to run on 5 V – 20 V DC. Rounding things out is a multi-memory card reader and a handful of USB 3 ports.
Most of the video focuses on the build itself, including the woodworking bits and fitting everything into that rugged plastic shell. Probably the coolest thing about this whatever-you-want-to-call-it is the built-in oscilloscope; that’s gonna come in handy more than you think.
Got a hot tip that has like, anything to do with keyboards?
Help me out by sending in a link or two
. Don’t want all the Hackaday scribes to see it? Feel free to
email me directly
. | 15 | 5 | [
{
"comment_id": "8063432",
"author": "Paul",
"timestamp": "2024-11-18T16:03:59",
"content": "That thicc keyboard image full of easter eggs, attributed to [Kenwood1994] is actually [Kirkwood1994]. Ironically, I clicked on it because that amp looked suspiciously very close to my 1970s Kenwood, but wi... | 1,760,371,724.990759 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/11/20/freecad-version-1-0-released/ | FreeCAD Version 1.0 Released | Maya Posch | [
"News"
] | [
"freecad"
] | After 22 years of development,
FreeCAD has at long last reached the milestone of version 1.0
. On this momentous occasion, it’s good to remember what a version 1.0 is supposed to mean, as also highlighted in the release blog post: FreeCAD is now considered stable and ready for ‘real work’. One of the most important changes here is that the
topological naming problem
(TNP) that has plagued FreeCAD since its inception has now finally been addressed using Realthunders’ mitigation algorithm, which puts it closer to parity here with other CAD packages. The other major change is that assemblies are now supported with the assembly workbench, which uses
the Ondsel solver
.
Other changes include an updated user interface and other features that should make using FreeCAD easier and closer in line with industry standards. In the run-up to the 1.0 release we
already addressed
the nightmare that is chamfering in FreeCAD, and the many overlapping-yet-uniquely-incomplete workbenches, much of which should be far less of a confabulated nightmare in this bright new 1.0 future.
Naturally, the big zero behind the major version number also means that there will still be plenty of issues to fix and bugs to hunt down, but it’s a promising point of progress in the development of this OSS CAD package. | 35 | 9 | [
{
"comment_id": "8064190",
"author": "deL",
"timestamp": "2024-11-20T16:56:42",
"content": "MangoJelly Solutions already have a complete video course for FreeCAD v1.0:https://youtu.be/t_yh_S31R9g?si=QO3DO_q3UkjtU81QCouldn’t recommend it more highly.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"repl... | 1,760,371,725.071139 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/11/20/boss-byproducts-calthemites-are-man-made-cave-dwellers/ | Boss Byproducts: Calthemites Are Man-Made Cave Dwellers | Kristina Panos | [
"chemistry hacks",
"Featured",
"Hackaday Columns",
"Original Art",
"Slider"
] | [
"calcium carbonate",
"calthemite",
"Chemistry",
"concrete",
"deposit",
"FlowStone",
"iron oxide",
"secondary deposit",
"stalactite",
"stalagmite"
] | Some lovely orange calthemite flowstone colored so by iron oxide from rusting steel reinforcing. Image via
Wikipedia
At this point, we’ve learned about man-made byproducts and nature-made byproducts. But how about one that’s a little of both? I’m talking about
calthemites
, which are secondary deposits that form in those man-made caves such as parking garages, mines, and tunnels.
Calthemites grow both on and under these structures in forms that mimic natural cave speleothems like stalactites, stalagmites, flowstone, and so on. They are often the result of an hyperalkalinic solution of pH 9-14 seeping through a concrete structure to the point of coming into contact with the air on the underside. Here, carbon dioxide in the air facilitates the necessary reactions to secondarily deposit calcium carbonate.
These calcium carbonate deposits are usually white, but can be colored red, orange, or yellow thanks to iron oxide. If copper pipes are around, copper oxide can cause calthemites to be blue or green. As pretty as all that sounds, I didn’t find any evidence of these parking garage growths having been turned into jewelry. So there’s your million-dollar idea.
Calthemite Chemistry
The calthemite class also includes secondary deposits in man-made caves and tunnels where there is no concrete lining. Instead, the deposit is derived from limestone or dolomite or some other calcareous rock from which the thing was hollowed out.
A calthemite straw stalactite shows off its drip. Image via
Wikipedia
Concrete stalactites and such are formed so due to their chemistry, which differs from those formed in limestone caves. They come as a result of calcium oxide in cement. If you’ll recall, concrete is a mixture of sand, aggregate, and cement. When water is added, calcium oxide in the cement reacts and forms calcium hydroxide. Under certain conditions, this can separate out into calcium and hydroxide ions.
The calcium hydroxide readily reacts with carbon dioxide to form calcium carbonate. This happens as soon as the concrete starts to set — the calcium carbonate takes over the mixture, using up all the carbon dioxide within. Atmospheric carbon dioxide continues to react just outside the surface. But it can’t penetrate very far, and so some free calcium hydroxide remains within the concrete.
Any external water source that’s able to seep into the micro cracks and air voids in the set concrete will carry that carbon hydroxide to the underside of the structure. When it hits the atmosphere, carbon dioxide will diffuse into the solution. Over time, the reaction deposits straw-shaped stalactites.
Of course, not all calthemites are flowstone or stalactites. Some times the flow rate is so fast that the water drips to the ground, where stalagmites can form. Of course, depending on the location, they can be trod upon and driven over and thus continually ground down into nothing noticeable.
A Growth Mindset
The growth rates of the various types of calthemites highly depends on the drip rate and supply of calthemite solution to the calcium carbonate deposition site. Growth also depends on the available carbon dioxide, as it dictates how much calcium carbonate can be created, and how quickly. Conversely, evaporation and ambient temperature appear to have little influence on growth rate.
The mighty calthemite straw stalactite can grow up to 2mm per day in favorable conditions. Image via
Wikipedia
Calthemite stalactites, on average, grow much faster than natural cave speleothems — up to nearly 200 times as fast. There’s a calthemite straw out there that has been recorded over several consecutive days as growing 2 mm per day thanks to a drip rate of one every 11 minutes.
If the drip rate exceeds one drop per minute, a straw cannot form. Instead, the solution falls to the ground and the calcium carbonate is deposited as a stalagmite. On the other end, a drip rate greater than ~25-30 minutes, there’s a chance that the tip of the straw will calcify and become blocked. New calthemite straws can often grow next to dormant ones when the solution finds a path of lesser resistance.
Although both are composed of calcium carbonate, calthemite straw walls are quite a bit thinner than those of their natural cave speleological brethren. This is because the chemistry differs in creating the straws. On average, calthemite straws are 40% the mass per unit length of cave straws with equivalent diameter.
Beautiful Bones
This type of accidental semi-man-made
ite
has a kind of beauty I didn’t expect to find when I started writing this article. I’ll definitely be looking out for these formations the next time I’m in a parking garage, and I might even be tempted to break one off.
Unfortunately, not every byproduct can be beautiful. Some are just terrifying. Stay tuned! | 6 | 4 | [
{
"comment_id": "8064172",
"author": "Velli",
"timestamp": "2024-11-20T15:54:36",
"content": "This is a sign your concrete is failing.The changes from carbonation will lead to corrosion of rebar and other reinforcing steel, spalling, cracking, opening up further weathering, and overall weakened mech... | 1,760,371,725.154831 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/11/20/an-animated-walkthrough-of-how-large-language-models-work/ | An Animated Walkthrough Of How Large Language Models Work | Donald Papp | [
"Artificial Intelligence",
"Software Hacks"
] | [
"ai",
"GPT",
"LLM",
"neural network",
"visualizer"
] | If you wonder how Large Language Models (LLMs) work and aren’t afraid of getting a bit technical, don’t miss
[Brendan Bycroft]’s LLM Visualization
. It is an interactively-animated step-by-step walk-through of a GPT large language model complete with animated and interactive 3D block diagram of everything going on under the hood. Check it out!
nano-gpt has only around 85,000 parameters, but the operating principles are all the same as for larger models.
The demonstration walks through a simple task and shows every step. The task is this: using the nano-gpt model, take a sequence of six letters and put them into alphabetical order.
A GPT model is a highly complex prediction engine, so the whole process begins with tokenizing the input (breaking up words and assigning numerical values to the chunks) and ends with choosing an appropriate output from a list of probabilities. There are of course many more steps in between, and different ways to adjust the model’s behavior. All of these are made quite clear by [Brendan]’s process breakdown.
We’ve previously covered
how LLMs work, explained without math
which eschews gritty technical details in favor of focusing on functionality, but it’s also nice to see an approach like this one, which embraces the technical elements of exactly what is going on.
We’ve also seen a much higher-level peek at how a modern AI model like Anthropic’s
Claude
works when it processes requests, extracting
human-understandable concepts that illustrate what’s going on under the hood
. | 9 | 4 | [
{
"comment_id": "8064106",
"author": "shinsukke",
"timestamp": "2024-11-20T13:07:35",
"content": "Its all still magic to me but now the scale makes it look even more impossibly incomprehensibleThanks I guess /s",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "80... | 1,760,371,725.260868 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/11/20/__trashed-24/ | Junk Box Build Helps Hams With SDR | Dan Maloney | [
"Radio Hacks"
] | [
"amateur",
"dongle",
"ham",
"high pass filter",
"LC filter",
"RTL-SDR",
"sdr",
"selectivity",
"series tuned"
] | SDRs have been a game changer for radio hobbyists, but for ham radio applications, they often need a little help. That’s especially true of SDR dongles, which don’t have a lot of selectivity in the HF bands. But they’re so darn cheap and fun to play with, what’s a ham to do?
[VK3YE] has an answer, in the form of
this homebrew software-defined radio (SDR) helper
. It’s got a few features that make using a dongle like the RTL-SDR on the HF bands a little easier and a bit more pleasant. Construction is dead simple and based on what was in the junk bin and includes a potentiometer for attenuating stronger signals, a high-pass filter to tamp down stronger medium-wave broadcast stations, and a series-tuned LC circuit for each of the HF bands to provide some needed selectivity. Everything is wired together
ugly-style
in a metal enclosure, with a little jiggering needed to isolate the variable capacitor from ground.
The last two-thirds of the video below shows the helper in use on everything from the 11-meter (CB) band down to the AM bands. This would be a great addition to any ham’s SDR toolkit. | 5 | 3 | [
{
"comment_id": "8064101",
"author": "shinsukke",
"timestamp": "2024-11-20T12:43:38",
"content": "SDRs which don’t use RTL2832U and can go above 1.7GHz are still expensive.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "8064285",
"author": "Jake",
... | 1,760,371,725.201654 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/11/19/most-extreme-hypergravity-facility-starts-up-in-china-with-1900-times-earths-gravity/ | Most Extreme Hypergravity Facility Starts Up In China With 1,900 Times Earth’s Gravity | Maya Posch | [
"Science"
] | [
"centrifuge",
"gravity",
"hypergravity"
] | The schematic diagram of the experimental centrifuge. (Credit: Jianyong Liu et al., 2024)
Recently China’s new
CHIEF hypergravity facility came online
to begin research projects after
beginning construction in 2018
. Standing for Centrifugal Hypergravity and Interdisciplinary Experiment Facility the name covers basically what it is about: using centrifuges immense acceleration can be generated. With gravity defined as an acceleration on Earth of 1 g,
hypergravity
is thus a force of gravity >1 g. This is distinct from simple pressure as in e.g. a hydraulic press, as gravitational acceleration directly affects the object and defines characteristics such as its effective mass. This is highly relevant for many disciplines, including space flight, deep ocean exploration, materials science and aeronautics.
While humans can take a
g-force
(g
0
) of about 9 g
0
(88 m/s
2
) sustained in the case of trained fighter pilots, the acceleration generated by CHIEF’s two centrifuges is significantly above that, able to reach hundreds of g. For details of these centrifuges,
this preprint article
by [Jianyong Liu] et al. from April 2024 shows the construction of these centrifuges and the engineering that goes into their operation, especially the aerodynamic characteristics. Both air pressure (30 – 101 kPa) and arm velocity (200 – 1000 g) are considered, with the risks being overpressure and resonance, which if not designed for can obliterate such a centrifuge.
The acceleration of CHIEF is said to max out at 1,900
gravity tons
(gt, weight of one ton due to gravity), which is significantly more than the 1,200 gt of the US Army Corps of Engineers’ hypergravity facility. | 33 | 12 | [
{
"comment_id": "8064046",
"author": "Peter",
"timestamp": "2024-11-20T07:09:45",
"content": "Lets hope its not tofu steg",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "8064084",
"author": "Gordon F.",
"timestamp": "2024-11-20T11:36:25",
"content":... | 1,760,371,725.344549 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/11/19/batteries-not-included-navigating-the-implants-of-tomorrow/ | Batteries Not Included: Navigating The Implants Of Tomorrow | Heidi Ulrich | [
"Battery Hacks",
"Lifehacks",
"News",
"Wearable Hacks"
] | [
"battery",
"bioelectronic implant",
"bioelectronics",
"biohacking",
"biohybrid",
"biomedic",
"body",
"implant"
] | Tinkerers and tech enthusiasts, brace yourselves: the frontier of biohacking has just expanded. Picture implantable medical devices that don’t need batteries—no more surgeries for replacements or bulky contraptions. Though not all new (see below),
ChemistryWorld recently shed new light
on these innovations. It’s as exciting as it is unnerving; we, as hackers, know too well that tech and biology blend a fine ethical line. Realising our bodies can be hacked both tickles our excitement and unsettlement, posing deeper questions about human-machine integration.
Since the first pacemaker hit the scene in 1958, powered by rechargeable nickel-cadmium batteries and induction coils, progress has been steady but bound by battery limitations. Now, researchers like Jacob Robinson from Rice University are flipping the script, moving to designs that harvest energy
from within
. Whether through mechanical heartbeats or lung inflation, these implants are shifting to a network of energy-harvesting nodes.
From triboelectric nanogenerators made of flexible, biodegradable materials to piezoelectric devices tapping body motion is quite a leap. John Rogers at Northwestern University points out that the real challenge is balancing power extraction without harming the body’s natural function. Energy isn’t free-flowing; overharvesting could strain or damage organs.
A topic we also addressed
in April of this year.
As we edge toward battery-free implants, these breakthroughs could redefine biomedical tech. A good start on diving into this paradigm shift and past innovations is
this article from 2023
. It’ll get you on track of some prior innovations in this field. Happy tinkering, and: stay critical! For we hackers know that there’s an alternative use for everything! | 19 | 6 | [
{
"comment_id": "8064026",
"author": "Herrmannc1899",
"timestamp": "2024-11-20T03:56:44",
"content": "Internal energy harvesting has always irked me a bit in the biohaking world. I wonder if a lot of the issues of energy will be solved with further advancements in battery tech. Anything that harvest... | 1,760,371,725.513052 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/11/19/dial-up-internet-using-the-viking-dle-200b-telephone-line-simulator/ | Dial-up Internet Using The Viking DLE-200B Telephone Line Simulator | Maya Posch | [
"how-to",
"Phone Hacks"
] | [
"dial-up",
"pots"
] | Who doesn’t like dial-up internet? Even if those who survived the dial-up years are happy to be on broadband, and those who are still on dial-up wish that they weren’t, there’s definitely a nostalgic factor to the experience. Yet recreating the experience can be a hassle, with signing up for a dial-up ISP or jumping through many (POTS) hoops to get a dial-up server up and running. An
easier way is demonstrated by [Minh Danh]
with a
Viking DLE-200B
telephone line simulator in a recent blog post.
This little device does all the work of making two telephones (or modems) think that they’re communicating via a regular old
POTS
network. After picking up one of these puppies for a mere $5 at a flea market, [Minh Danh] tested it first with two landline phones to confirm that yes, you can call one phone from the other and hold a conversation. The next step was thus to connect two PCs via their modems, with the other side of the line receiving the ‘call’. In this case a Windows XP system was configured to be the dial-up server, passing through its internet connection via the modem.
With this done, a 33.6 kbps dial-up connection was successfully established on the client Windows XP system, with a blistering 3.8 kB/s download speed. The reason for 33.6 kbps is because the DLE-200B does not support 56K, and according to the manual doesn’t even support higher than 28.8 kbps, so even reaching these speeds was lucky. | 29 | 13 | [
{
"comment_id": "8063994",
"author": "Renard",
"timestamp": "2024-11-20T00:55:08",
"content": "Yep, that’s how I host Sega Saturn Netlink “LAN” parties these days.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "8064203",
"author": "Gravis",
"... | 1,760,371,725.590719 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/11/19/raspberry-pi-compute-module-5-seen-in-the-wild/ | Raspberry Pi Compute Module 5 Seen In The Wild | Elliot Williams | [
"News",
"Raspberry Pi"
] | [
"compute module",
"compute module 5",
"raspberry pi"
] | Last Thursday we were at Electronica, which is billed as the world’s largest electronics trade show, and it probably is! It fills up twenty airplane-hangar-sized halls in Munich, and only takes place every two years.
And what did we see on the wall in the Raspberry Pi department? One of the relatively new AI-enabled cameras running a real-time pose estimation demo, powered by nothing less than a brand-new Raspberry Pi Compute Module 5. And it seemed happy to be running without a heatsink, but we don’t know how much load it was put under – most of the AI processing is done in the camera module.
We haven’t heard anything about the CM5 yet from the Raspberry folks, but we can’t imagine there’s all that much to say except that they’re getting ready to start production soon. If you look really carefully, this CM5 seems to have mouse bites on it that haven’t been ground off, so we’re speculating that this is still a pre-production unit, but feel free to generate wild rumors in the comment section.
The test board looks very similar to the RP4 CM demo board, so we imagine that the footprint hasn’t changed. (Edit: Oh wait, check out the M2 slot on the right-hand side!)
The CM4 was a real change for the compute module series,
coming with a brand-new pinout that enabled them to break out more PCIe lanes
. Despite the special connectors,
it wasn’t all that hard to work with
if you’re dedicated. So if you need more computing power in that smaller form factor, we’re guessing that you won’t have to wait all that much longer!
Thanks [kuro] for the tip, and for walking around Electronica with me. | 23 | 6 | [
{
"comment_id": "8063971",
"author": "TG",
"timestamp": "2024-11-19T22:39:57",
"content": "The Second Coming of Benchoff",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "8063979",
"author": "Maggie",
"timestamp": "2024-11-19T23:25:53",
... | 1,760,371,725.673739 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/11/19/supercon-2024-sao-petal-kicad-redrawing-project/ | Supercon 2024 SAO Petal KiCad Redrawing Project | Chris Lott | [
"Hackaday Columns",
"Reverse Engineering",
"Slider"
] | [
"2024 Hackaday Supercon",
"KiCAD",
"PCB design",
"schematics",
"Supercon AddOn"
] | Last week I completed the
SAO flower badge redrawing task
, making a complete KiCad project. Most of the SAO petals are already released as KiCad projects, except for the Petal Matrix. The design features 56 LEDs arranged in eight spiral arms radiating from the center. What it does not feature are straight lines, right angles, nor parts placed on a regular grid.
Importing into KiCad
Circuit Notes for LEDs, Thanks to [spereinabox]
I followed the same procedures as the main flower badge with no major hiccups. This design didn’t have any released schematics, but backing out the circuits was straightforward. It also helped that user [sphereinabox] over on the Hackaday Discord server had rung out the LED matrix connections and gave me his notes.
Grep Those Positons
I first wanted to only read the data from the LEDs for analysis, and I didn’t need the full Kicad + Python scripting for that. Using
grep
on the PCB file, you get a text file that can be easily parsed to get the numbers. I confirmed that the LED placements were truly as irregular as they looked.
My biggest worry was how obtain and re-apply the positions and angles of the LEDs, given the irregular layout of the spiral arms. Just like the random angles of six SAO connector on the badge board, [Voja] doesn’t disappoint on this board, either. I fired up Python and used Matplotlib to get a visual perspective of the randomness of the placements, as one does. Due to the overall shape of the arms, there is a general trend to the numbers. But no obvious equation is discernable.
LED X,Y Positions on the PCB
LED Rotation Angles on PCB, Rectangular Axes
LED Rotation Angles on PCB, Polar Plot
It was obvious that I needed a script of some sort to locate 56 new KiCad LED footprints onto the board. (Spoiler: I was wrong.) Theoretically I could have processed the PCB text file with bash or Python, creating a modified file. Since I only needed to change a few numbers, this wasn’t completely out of the question. But that is inelegant. It was time to get familiar with the KiCad + Python scripting capabilities. I dug in with gusto, but came away baffled.
KiCad’s Python Console to the Rescue — NOT
This being a one-time task for one specific PCB, writing a KiCad plugin didn’t seem appropriate. Instead, hacking around in the KiCad Python console looked like the way to go. But I didn’t work well for quick experimenting. You open the KiCad PCB console within the PCB editor. But when the console boots up, it doesn’t know anything about the currently loaded PCB. You need to import the Kicad Python interface library, and then open the PCB file. Also, the current state of the Python REPL and the command history are not maintained between restarts of KiCad. I don’t see any advantages of using the built-in Python console over just running a script in your usual Python environment.
Clearly there is a use case for this console. By all appearances, a lot of effort has gone into building up this capability. It appears to be full of features that must be valuable to some users and/or developers. Perhaps I should have stuck with it longer and figured it out.
KiCad Python Script Outside KiCad
This seemed like the perfect solution. The buzz in the community is that modern KiCad versions interface very well with Python. I’ve also been impressed with the improved KiCad project documentation on recent years. “This is going to be easy”, I thought.
First thing to note, the KiCad v8 interface library works only with Python 3.9. I run
pyenv
on my computers and already have 3.9 installed — check. However, you cannot just do a
pip install kicad-something-or-other...
to get the KiCad python interface library. These libraries come bundled within the KiCad distribution. Furthermore, they only work with a custom built version of Python 3.9 that is also included in the bundle. While I haven’t encountered this situation before, I figured out you can make
pyenv
point to a Python that has been installed outside of
pyenv
. But before I got that working, I made another discovery.
The Python API is not “officially” supported. KiCad has announced that the current Simplified Wrapper and Interface Generator-based Python interface bindings are slated to be deprecated. They are to be replaced by Inter-Process Communication-based bindings in Feb 2026. This tidbit of news coincided with learning of a similar 3rd party library.
Introducing KiUtils
Many people were asking questions about including external pip-installed modules from within the KiCad Python console. This confounded my search results, until I hit upon someone using the
KiUtils package
to solve the same problem I was having. Armed with this tool, I was up and running in no time. To be fair, I susepct KiUtils may also break when KiCad switched from SWIG to IPC interface, but KiUtils was so much easier to get up and running, I stuck with it.
I wrote a Python script to extract all the information I needed for the LEDs. The next step was to apply those values to the 56 new KiCad LED footprints to place each one in the correct position and orientation. As I searched for an example of writing a PCB file from KiUtils, I saw issue #113,
“Broken as of KiCAD 8?”
, on the KiUtils GitHub repository. Looks like KiUtils is already broken for v8 files. While I was able to read data from my v8 PCB file, it is reported that KiCad v8 cannot read files written by KiUtils.
Scripting Not Needed — DOH
At a dead end, I was about to hand place all the LEDs manually when I realized I could do it from inside KiCad. My excursions into KiCad and Python scripting were all for naught. The LED footprints had been imported from Altium Circuit Maker as one single footprint per LED (as opposed to some parts which convert as one footprint per pad). This single realization made the problem trivial. I just needed to update footprints from the library. While this did require a few attempts to get the cathode and anodes sorted out, it was basically solved with a single mouse click.
Those Freehand Traces
The imported traces on this PCB were harder to cleanup than those on the badge board. There were a lot of disconinuities in track segments. These artifacts would work fine if you made a real PCB, but because some segment endpoints don’t precisely line up, KiCad doesn’t know they belong to the same net. Here is how these were fixed:
Curved segments endpoints can’t be dragged like a straight line segment can. Solutions:
If the next track is a straight line, drag the line to connect to the curved segment.
If the next track is also a curve, manually route a very short track between the two endpoints.
If you route a track broadside into a curved track, it will usually not connect as far as KiCad is concerned. The solution is to break the curved track at the desired intersection, and those endpoints will accept a connection.
Some end segments were not connected to a pad. These were fixed by either dragging or routing a short trace.
Applying these rules over and over again, I finaly cleared all the discontinuities. Frustratingly, the algorithm to do this task already exists in a KiCad function:
Tools -> Cleanup Graphics... -> Fix Discontinuities in Board Outline
, and an accompanying tolerance field specified as a length in millimeters. But this operation, as noted in the its name, is restricted to lines on the
Edge.Cuts
layer.
PCB vs Picture
Detail of Test Pad Differences
When I was all done, I noticed a detail in the photo of the Petal Matrix PCB assembly from the Hackaday reveal article. That board (sitting on a rock) has six debugging / expansion test points connected to the six pins of the SAO connector. But in the Altium Circuit Maker PCB design, there are only two pads, A and B. These connect to the two auxiliary input pins of the AS1115 chip. I don’t know which is correct. (Editor’s note: they were just there for debugging.) If you use this project to build one of these boards, edit it according to your needs.
Conclusion
The SAO Petal Matrix redrawn KiCad project can be found over at this
GitHub repository
. It isn’t easy to work backwards using KiCad from the PCB to the schematic. I certainly wouldn’t want to reverse engineer a 9U VME board this way. But for many smaller projects, it isn’t an unreasonable task, either. You can also use much simpler tools to get the job done. Earlier this year over on
Hackaday.io
, user [Skyhawkson] did a gread job backing out schematics from an Apollo-era PCB with Microsoft Paint 3D — a tool released in 2017 and just discontinued last week. | 5 | 4 | [
{
"comment_id": "8063949",
"author": "The Commenter Formerly Known As Ren",
"timestamp": "2024-11-19T21:42:29",
"content": "Page break, please!",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "8063986",
"author": "Jon",
"timestamp": "2024-11-20T00:23:53"... | 1,760,371,725.738816 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/11/19/the-vecdec-cyberdeck-is-more-than-a-pretty-case/ | The Vecdec Cyberdeck Is More Than A Pretty Case | Tom Nardi | [
"Cyberdecks",
"Peripherals Hacks"
] | [
"ergonomic keyboard",
"gesture sensor",
"LoRa",
"Meshtastic",
"widescreen"
] | A common criticism we hear of cyberdecks is that functionality too often takes a backseat to aesthetics — in other words, they might look awesome, but they aren’t the kind of thing you’re likely to use a daily driver. It’s not an assessment that we necessarily disagree with, though we also don’t hold it against anyone if they’re more interested in honing their build’s retro-futuristic looks than its computational potential.
That said, when a build comes along that manages to strike a balance between style and function, we certainly take notice. The
vecdec, built by [svenscore]
is a perfect example. We actually came across this one in the Desert of the Real, also known as the outskirts of Philadelphia, while we
stalked the chillout room at JawnCon 0x1
. When everyone else in the room is using a gleaming MacBook or a beat-up ThinkPad, its wildly unconventional design certainly grabs your attention. But spend a bit of time checking the hardware out and chatting with its creator, and you realize it’s not just some cyberpunk prop.
vecdec connected to the
JawnCon modem badge
It all started when [svenscore] caught the ergonomic split keyboard bug awhile back. After getting used to the layout on his desktop, he found going back to the standard keyboard on his laptop was rather unpleasant. Carrying an external keyboard wherever you go is pretty much a non-starter when doing any serious traveling, so he decided his best bet was to build a portable machine that integrated his keyboard layout of choice.
The size and shape of said keyboard ultimately dictated the outline of the vecdec, leaving little room for luxuries. Still, [svenscore] managed to sneak a few surprises into this Raspberry Pi 4 powered cyberdeck: a SX1262 LoRa transceiver allows for
experimenting with Meshtastic on the go
, and a I2C connected PAJ7620U2 gesture sensor located between the keyboard halves allows the user to navigate through documents with a literal wave of the hand.
We’ve seen some ergonomic cyberdecks before
, but the fit and finish on the vecdec certainly helps it stand out from the pack. With machines like this out in the wild, perhaps it’s
time for another Cyberdeck Contest
? | 30 | 5 | [
{
"comment_id": "8063829",
"author": "Jon Mayo",
"timestamp": "2024-11-19T17:13:27",
"content": "This will come as a great surprise to my wife.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "8063834",
"author": "Jan",
"timestamp": "2024-11-19T17:16:41"... | 1,760,371,726.350769 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/11/19/the-great-redbox-cleanup-one-company-is-hauling-away-americas-last-dvd-kiosks/ | The Great Redbox Cleanup: One Company Is Hauling Away America’s Last DVD Kiosks | Lewin Day | [
"Current Events",
"Featured",
"News",
"Original Art",
"Slider"
] | [
"disposal",
"dvd",
"dvd rental",
"redbox",
"rental"
] | Remember Redbox? Those bright red DVD vending machines that dotted every strip mall and supermarket in America, offering cheap rentals when Netflix was still stuffing discs into paper envelopes? After streaming finally delivered the killing blow to physical rentals, Redbox threw in the towel in June 2024, leaving around 34,000 kiosks standing as silent monuments to yet another dead media format.
Last month, we reported that these machines were still out there,
barely functional and clinging to life.
Now, a company called The Junkluggers has been tasked with the massive undertaking of clearing these mechanical movie dispensers from the American retail landscape, and they’re doing it in a surprisingly thoughtful way. I chatted to them to find out how it’s going.
Redbox vending machines weigh anywhere up to 850 pounds, and are often displayed along with additional promotional signage as seen here. Moving them isn’t the easiest. Credit: The Junkluggers, supplied
In a symbolic end to the DVD rental era, thousands of distinctive red kiosks are being methodically removed from storefronts across America.
The Junkluggers
, a specialized removal company, has been tasked with the final chapter of the Redbox story – dismantling and responsibly disposing of these once-ubiquitous machines that changed how we consumed movies.
When Redbox filed for bankruptcy in June this year, thousands of kiosks still stood sentinel outside grocery stores, malls, and big box store locations nationwide. Now, The Junkluggers is orchestrating what amounts to a massive logistics operation to clear these remnants of the physical media age. The company operates nationwide—and thus was able to offer a one-stop shop for disposing of these machines across the nation.
“We’ve successfully removed thousands of Redbox units nationwide, including servicing major retailers in all major metropolitan areas,” explains Justin Waltz, Brand President of The Junkluggers. The company has been working at remarkable speed, completing their first phase of removals from major retailers and various grocery chains in less than three weeks. “When Redbox shut down in October, there were about 34,000 kiosks still in operation,” says Waltz. “However, most of these have been defunct, removed, and broken down for parts nationwide.”
The main phase of the removal job is easy: grab the boxes, and throw ’em on the truck. From there, they’re disassembled to have their discs redistributed and their components recycled. Credit: The Junkluggers, supplied
But what happens to these decommissioned movie dispensers? Rather than simply scrapping the machines, The Junkluggers has implemented a methodical process to maximize recycling and reuse. “Sustainable junk removal” is the ethos of the company, and that’s guided what happens to the Redbox hardware. “For the
Redbox
units being handled by The Junkluggers, we help to recycle the metal components and return them to the production supply chain,” explains Waltz. “There are multiple types of
Redbox
units out there and each must be handled differently… for each unit that comes into our possession, we carefully evaluate its components to identify what parts can be recycled or donated.”
Media enthusiasts will be most keen to know what’s happening to the discs
inside
these machines. Redbox vending machines are capable of holding up to 630 DVDs each. If we imagine the fleet is around half full, at an average of 300 discs per unit, that would have left over 10,000,000 DVDs to be disposed of. Some might think it a shame for all these to end up in landfill. Thankfully, that’s not the case, as the company has found creative ways to give the DVD libraries within these machines a second life.
Shortly after bankruptcy (and later liquidation) was declared, these sad notices started appearing on Redbox machines. TaurusEmerald, CC BY-SA 4.0
“The majority of the DVDs we’ve collected from removals are being rehomed,” says Waltz. “We’ve donated DVDs to local artists, assisted living facilities, homeless shelters, veterans’ clinics, and other community organizations nationwide.” The goal is to see as many discs as possible go to new homes.
The Redbox removal project serves as a case study in responsible corporate dismantling. While the red kiosks may be disappearing from our streets, their components are being recycled into new products, and their content continues to serve communities that can benefit from them. It’s a fitting epilogue for a service that democratized movie rentals, ensuring that even in its sunset, Redbox continues to make entertainment accessible to those who seek it out.
Seasons Changing
As streaming services dominate our viewing habits, the disappearance of these kiosks marks more than just a business transition – it’s the end of an era in how we consumed entertainment. Physical media has long been on the decline as far as mainstream consumption goes. At the same time, we’ve see it bounce back time and again in the music space, first with vinyls, then cassettes, and now CDs. With Redbox collapsing in on itself, we’re either witnessing the true final days of the DVD, or the lull before it becomes retro and hip again. We’ll find out soon enough.
It’s one of those times where technology has made an existing business obsolete. Traditional video rentals went the way of the dodo because nobody wanted to drive to pick up a movie when they could just stream one at home. Redbox perhaps lasted longer than most if only for the fact that its overheads were so much lower by using vending machines instead of staffed retail locations. Even then, it wasn’t enough to survive. It seems that the Redbox rental concept is now definitively consigned to history. | 91 | 30 | [
{
"comment_id": "8063783",
"author": "J.Cook",
"timestamp": "2024-11-19T15:20:37",
"content": "Indeed; One is wondering if the internals can be resurrected and repurposed for use as a self-serve library or something.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_... | 1,760,371,726.126568 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/11/19/power-supply-with-benchtop-features-fits-in-your-pocket/ | Power Supply With Benchtop Features Fits In Your Pocket | Donald Papp | [
"Crowd Funding",
"Tool Hacks"
] | [
"Pd",
"power supply",
"PPS",
"USB C"
] | [CentyLab]’s PocketPD
isn’t just adorably tiny — it also boasts some pretty useful features. It offers a lightweight way to get a precisely adjustable output of 0 to 20 V at up to 5 A with banana jack output, integrating a rotary encoder and OLED display for ease of use.
PocketPD leverages USB-C Power Delivery (PD), a technology with capabilities
our own [Arya Voronova] has summarized nicely
. In particular, PocketPD makes use of the Programmable Power Supply (PPS) functionality to precisely set and control voltage and current. Doing this does require a compatible USB-C charger or power bank, but that’s not too big of an ask these days.
Even if an attached charger doesn’t support PPS, PocketPD can still be useful. The device interrogates the attached charger on every bootup, and displays available options. By default PocketPD selects the first available 5 V output mode with chargers that don’t support PPS.
The latest hardware version is still in development and the
GitHub repository
has all the firmware, which is aimed at making it easy to modify or customize. Interested in some hardware? There’s
a pre-launch crowdfunding campaign
you can watch. | 42 | 15 | [
{
"comment_id": "8063741",
"author": "alialiali",
"timestamp": "2024-11-19T12:24:52",
"content": "This is very nice,and it might become my next portable power supply.I have an AliExpress special ATX power supply breakout board that I’ve been using.What I think would be neat is it those ATX breakouts... | 1,760,371,725.911312 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/11/19/the-barcode-beast-likes-your-cds/ | The Barcode Beast Likes Your CDs | Jenny List | [
"home hacks"
] | [
"barcode",
"mqtt",
"Pi Pico W"
] | Over the years we’ve featured many projects which attempt to replicate the feel of physical media when playing music. Usually this involves some kind of token representation of the media, but
here’s [Bas] with a different twist
(Dutch language,
Google Translate link
). He’s using the CDs themselves in their cases, identifying them by their barcodes.
At its heart is a Raspberry Pi Pico W and a barcode scanner — after reading the barcode, the Pi calls Discogs to find the tracks, and then uses the Spotify API to find the appropriate links. From there, Home Assistant forwards them along to a smart speaker for playback. As a nice touch, [Bas] designed a 3D printed holder for the electronics which makes the whole thing a bit neater to use.
We this approach for its relative simplicity, and because the real CDs ad the retro touch it’s a real winner. You can find all the resources
in a GitHub repository
, should you wish to make your own. Meanwhile,
it’s certainly not the first barcode scanner we’ve seen
. | 44 | 10 | [
{
"comment_id": "8063730",
"author": "Bob Marlee",
"timestamp": "2024-11-19T10:38:05",
"content": "It’s an interesting implementation, but why would you implement it this way, supporting Spotify and generating unnecessary traffic for data you already have locally?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth... | 1,760,371,726.209266 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/11/18/tearing-down-a-sla-printer-with-the-engineers-who-built-it/ | Tearing Down A SLA Printer With The Engineers Who Built It | Danie Conradie | [
"3d Printer hacks"
] | [
"form labs",
"product development",
"shane wighton"
] | Product teardowns are great, but getting an unfiltered one from the people who actually designed and built the product is a rare treat. In the lengthy video after the break, former Formlabs engineer [Shane Wighton]
tears down the Form 4 SLA printer
while [Alec Rudd], the engineering lead for the project, answers all his prying questions.
[Shane] was part of the team that brought all Form 4’s predecessors to life, so he’s intimately familiar with the challenges of developing such a complex product. This means he can spot the small design details that most people would miss, and dive into the story behind each one. These include the hinges and poka-yoke (error-proofing) designed into the lid, the leveling features in the build-plate mount, the complex prototyping challenges behind the LCD panel and backlight, and the mounting features incorporated into every component.
A considerable portion of the engineering effort went into mitigating all the ways things could go wrong in production, shipping, and operation. The fact that most of the parts on the Form 4 are user-replaceable makes this even harder. It’s apparent that both engineers speak from a deep well of hard-earned experience, and it’s well worth the watch if you dream of bringing a physical product to market.
You probably know [Shane] from his YouTube channel Stuff Made Here. We’ve covered many of his ludicrously challenging projects, like the
auto-aiming pool cue
and
golf club
, a
robotic hairdresser
, and an
“unpickable” lock. | 1 | 1 | [
{
"comment_id": "8063833",
"author": "Cheese Whiz",
"timestamp": "2024-11-19T17:15:44",
"content": "A Form 4 means something totally different to me.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
}
] | 1,760,371,725.80703 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/11/18/the-laser-shadow-knows/ | The Laser Shadow Knows | Al Williams | [
"Laser Hacks",
"Science"
] | [
"laser"
] | Normally, you think of things casting a shadow as being opaque. However, new research shows that under certain conditions, a laser beam
can cast a shadow
. This may sound like nothing more than a novelty, but it may have applications in using one laser beam to control another. If you want more details, you can read the
actual paper
online.
Typically, light passes through light without having an effect. But using a ruby crystal and specific laser wavelengths. In particular, a green laser has a non-linear response in the crystal that causes a shadow in a blue laser passing through the same crystal.
The green laser increases the crystal’s ability to absorb the blue laser beam. which creates a matching region in the blue beam that appears as a shadow.
If you read the article, there’s more to measuring shadows than you might think. We aren’t sure what we would do with this information, but if you figure it out, let us know.
Ruby
has a long history with lasers, of course. That green laser pointer you have? It might not be all
green
, after all. | 31 | 9 | [
{
"comment_id": "8063363",
"author": "Rastersoft",
"timestamp": "2024-11-18T12:48:30",
"content": "So it is a “NOT” gate… which, IMHO, is very interesting for photonic circuits.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "8063406",
"author": "D",
... | 1,760,371,726.279713 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/11/18/ruined-1993-thinkpad-tablet-brought-back-from-the-brink/ | Ruined 1993 ThinkPad Tablet Brought Back From The Brink | Lewin Day | [
"Repair Hacks",
"Retrocomputing"
] | [
"ibm",
"restoration",
"retrocomputer",
"retrocomputing",
"tablet",
"thinkpad"
] | Collecting retrocomputers is fun, especially when you find fully-functional examples that you can plug in, switch on, and start playing with. Meanwhile, others prefer to find the damaged examples and nurse them back to health. [polymatt] can count himself in that category, as evidenced by
his heroic rescue of an 1993 IBM ThinkPad Tablet.
The tablet came to [polymatt] in truly awful condition. Having been dropped at least once, the LCD screen was cracked, the case battered, and all the plastics were very much the worse for wear. Many of us would consider it too far gone, especially considering that replacement parts for such an item are virtually unobtainable. And yet, [polymatt] took on the challenge nonetheless.
Despite its condition, there were some signs of life in the machine. The pen-based touch display seemed to respond to the pen itself, and the backlight sort of worked, too. Still, with the LCD so badly damaged, it had to be replaced. Boggling the mind, [polymatt] was actually able to find a 9.4″ dual-scan monochrome LCD that was close enough to sort-of fit, size-wise. To make it work, though, it needed a completely custom mount to fit with the original case and electromagnetic digitizes sheet. From there, there was plenty more to do—recapping, recabling, fixing the batteries, and repairing the enclosure including a fresh set of nice decals.
The fact is, 1993 IBM ThinkPad Tablets just don’t come along every day. These rare specimens are absolutely worth this sort of
heroic restoration effort
if you do happen to score one on the retro market. Video after the break. | 11 | 7 | [
{
"comment_id": "8063391",
"author": "Panondorf",
"timestamp": "2024-11-18T13:58:42",
"content": "if you can find it there is a landfill full of these out in the Nevada desert. They are probably in about the same shape as this one started out if you dig them up. I would have thought it was pointles... | 1,760,371,726.396569 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/11/17/analog-shift-register-revealed/ | Analog Shift Register Revealed | Al Williams | [
"Misc Hacks"
] | [
"audio delay",
"bucket brigade"
] | Nowadays, if you want to delay an audio signal for, say, an echo or a reverb, you’d probably just do it digitally. But it wasn’t long ago that wasn’t a realistic option. Some devices used mechanical means, but there were also ICs like the
TCA350 “bucket brigade” device that [10maurycy10] shows us in a recent post
.
In this case, bucket brigade is a euphemism calling to mind how firemen would pass buckets down the line to put out a fire. It’s a bit of an analog analogy. The “bucket” is a MOSFET and capacitor. The “water” is electrical charge stored in the cap. All those charges are tiny snippets of an analog signal.
In practice, the chip has two clock signals that do not overlap. The first one gates the signal to a small capacitor which follows the input signal voltage. Then, when that gate clock closes, the second clock gates that output to another identical capacitor. The second capacitor discharges the first one and the whole process repeats, sometimes for hundreds of times.
In addition to a test circuit and some signals going in and out, the post also shows photomicrographs of the chip’s insides. As you might expect, all those identical gates make for a very regular layout on the die.
You might think these devices are obsolete, and that’s true. However, the basic idea is still in use for CCD camera sensors.
Sometimes, those old delay lines were actually columns of mercury or coiled-up transmission lines. You could even use a
garden hose
or build your own
delay line memory
. | 18 | 10 | [
{
"comment_id": "8063322",
"author": "asdf",
"timestamp": "2024-11-18T07:34:39",
"content": "Bucket brigade chips are still popular in guitar delay effect pedals, due to the specific way they color the sound.A YouTuber named Moritz Klein recently released a decent video which goes into how they work... | 1,760,371,726.626419 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/11/17/completing-the-ue1s-paper-tape-reader-and-first-squiggles/ | Completing The UE1’s Paper Tape Reader And First Squiggles | Maya Posch | [
"Retrocomputing"
] | [
"paper tape",
"tape reader"
] | The UE1 tape reader in its nearly finished glory. Note the resistor to regulate the motor speed. (Credit: David Lovett, Usagi Electric)
On today’s installment of UE1 vacuum tube computer construction,
we join [David Lovett] once more
on the
Usagi Electric
farm, as he determines just how much work remains before the project can be called done. When we last left off, the paper tape reader
had been motorized
, with the paper tape being pulled through smoothly in front of the photodiodes. This left [David] with the task to create a PCB to wire up these photodiodes, put an amplification circuit together (with tubes, of course) to amplify the signal from said photodiodes, and add some lighting (two 1-watt incandescents) to shine through the paper tape holes. All of this is now in place, but does it work?
The answer here is a definite kinda, as although there are definitely lovely squiggles on the oscilloscope, bit 0 turns out to be missing in action. This shouldn’t have come as a major surprise, as one of the problems that Bendix engineers dealt with back in the 1950s was effectively the same one: they, too, use the 9th hole on the 8-bit tape as a clock signal, but with this whole being much smaller than the other holes, this means not enough light passes through to activate the photodiode.
Excerpt from the Bendix G-15 schematics for the tape reader, showing the biasing of the clock signal photodiode. (Credit: David Lovett, Usagi Electric)
Here, the Bendix engineers opted to solve this by biasing the photodiode to be significantly more sensitive. This seems to be the ready-made solution for the UE1’s tape reader, too. After all, if it worked for Bendix for decades, surely it’ll work in 2024.
Beyond this curveball, the rest of the challenges involve getting a tape punched with known data on it so that the tape reader’s output can actually be validated beyond acknowledging the presence of squiggles on the scope display. Although the tape guiding mechanism seems more stable now, it also needs to be guided around in an endless loop due to the way that the UE1 computer will use the tape. Much like delay line memory, the paper tape will run in an endless loop, and the processor will simply skip over sections until it hits the next code it needs as part of a loop or jump.
With semi-modern components,
paper tape is easy to handle
.
Automatic tape feed
only adds a little complexity. | 1 | 1 | [
{
"comment_id": "8063486",
"author": "Martin",
"timestamp": "2024-11-18T18:51:03",
"content": "About a clock bit problem, you might try mechanical solution. Use stronger light source, and make a mask between a light and paper tape, with holes not larger than clock holes on tape? That way all diodes ... | 1,760,371,726.49612 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/11/17/hackaday-links-november-17-2024/ | Hackaday Links: November 17, 2024 | Dan Maloney | [
"Hackaday Columns",
"Hackaday links"
] | [
"3d printing",
"aluminum",
"casting",
"cold war",
"copper",
"extrusion",
"factory tour",
"hackaday links",
"Iron Mountain",
"mushrooms",
"pcb",
"solder",
"storage",
"virtual",
"Visual Basic 6"
] | A couple of weeks back, we covered
an interesting method for prototyping PCBs
using a modified CNC mill to 3D print solder onto a blank FR4 substrate. The video showing this process generated a lot of interest and no fewer than 20 tips to the Hackaday tips line, which continued to come in dribs and drabs this week. In a world where low-cost, fast-turn PCB fabs exist, the amount of effort that went into this method makes little sense, and readers certainly made that known in the comments section. Given that the blokes who pulled this off are gearheads with no hobby electronics background, it kind of made their approach a little more understandable, but it still left a ton of practical questions about how they pulled it off. And now
a new video
from the aptly named Bad Obsession Motorsports attempts to explain what went on behind the scenes.
To be quite honest, although the amount of work they did to make these boards was impressive, especially the part where they got someone to create a custom roll of fluxless tin-silver solder, we have to admit to being a little let down by the explanation. The mechanical bits, where they temporarily modified the CNC mill with what amounts to a 3D printer extruder and hot end to melt and dispense the solder, wasn’t really the question we wanted answered. We were far more interested in the details of getting the solder traces to stick to the board as they were dispensed and how the board acted when components were soldered into the rivets used as vias. Sadly, those details were left unaddressed, so unless they decide to make yet another video, we suppose we’ll just have to learn to live with the mystery.
What do mushrooms have to do with data security? Until this week, we’d have thought the two were completely unrelated, but then we spotted
this fantastic article
on “Computers Are Bad” that spins the tale of Iron Mountain, which people in the USA might recognize as a large firm that offers all kinds of data security products, from document shredding to secure offsite storage and data backups. We always assumed the “Iron Mountain” thing was simply marketing, but the company did start in an abandoned iron mine in upstate New York, where during the early years of the Cold War, it was called “Iron Mountain Atomic Storage” and marketed document security to companies looking for business continuity in the face of atomic annihilation. As Cold War fears ebbed, the company gradually rebranded itself into the information management entity we know today. But what about the mushrooms? We won’t ruin the surprise, but suffice it to say that IT people aren’t the only ones that are fed shit and kept in the dark.
Do you like thick traces? We sure do, at least when it comes to high-current PCBs. We’ve seen
a few boards with really impressive traces
and even had
a Hack Chat about the topic
, so it was nice to see Mark Hughes’ article on
design considerations for heavy copper boards
. The conventional wisdom with high-current applications seems to be “the more copper, the better,” but Mark explains why that’s not always the case and how trace thickness and trace spacing both need to be considered for high-current applications. It’s pretty cool stuff that we hobbyists don’t usually have to deal with, but it’s good to see how it’s done.
We imagine that there aren’t too many people out there with fond memories of Visual Basic, but back when it first came out in the early 1990s, the idea that you could actually make a Windows PC do Windows things without having to learn anything more than what you already knew from high school computer class was pretty revolutionary. By all lights, it was an awful language, but it was enabling for many of us, so much so that some of us leveraged it into successful careers. Visual Basic 6 was pretty much the end of the line for the classic version of the language, before it got absorbed into the whole .NET thing. If you miss that 2008 feel, here’s
a VB6 virtual machine
to help you recapture the glory days.
And finally, in this week’s “Factory Tour” segment we have
a look inside a Japanese aluminum factory
. The video mostly features extrusion,
a process we’ve written about before
, as well as casting. All of it is fascinating stuff, but what really got us was the glow of the molten aluminum, which we’d never really seen before. We’re used to the incandescent glow of molten iron or even brass and copper, but molten aluminum has always just looked like — well, liquid metal. We assumed that was thanks to its relatively low melting point, but apparently, you really need to get aluminum ripping hot for casting processes. Enjoy. | 18 | 6 | [
{
"comment_id": "8063273",
"author": "The Commenter Formerly Known As Ren",
"timestamp": "2024-11-18T00:52:09",
"content": "Inre: Underground sheltersA decade or so ago someone was trying to sell an old missile silo complex on an Internet auction site for over a million dollars.But I suspect that to... | 1,760,371,726.454826 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/11/17/uss-ufo-hunting-aerial-surveillance-system-detailed-in-report/ | US’s UFO-Hunting Aerial Surveillance System Detailed In Report | Maya Posch | [
"News"
] | [
"extraterrestrial",
"UAP",
"UFO"
] | Formerly known as Unidentified Flying Objects, Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAP) is a category of observations that are exactly what the UAP label suggests. This topic concerns the US military very much, as a big part of national security involves knowing everything that appears in the skies. This is the reason for the development of a new sensor suite by the Pentagon called GREMLIN. Recently, a
new report has provided more details
about what this system actually does.
Managed by the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) within the DoD, GREMLIN blends many different sensors, ranging from radar to ADS-B and RF monitors, together to establish a baseline and capture any anomalies within the 90-day monitoring period to characterize them.
UAPs were a popular topic even before the 1950s when people began to see them everywhere. Usually taking the form of lights or fast-moving objects in the sky, most UAP reports can be readily classified as weather balloons, satellites like Starlink, airplanes, the Northern Lights, the ISS, or planets like Mars and Venus. There are also curious phenomena such as the
Hessdalen lights
, which appear to be a geological, piezoelectric phenomenon, though our understanding of such natural lighting phenomena remains limited.
But it is never aliens, that’s one thing we know for sure. Not that
UFO’s
don’t exist.
Really
. | 16 | 6 | [
{
"comment_id": "8063241",
"author": "kołtun",
"timestamp": "2024-11-17T21:09:43",
"content": "ok please falsificate thishttps://arxiv.org/abs/2208.11215I no belive in ufo, but Why anybody not check this same experiment. Why any astronom not make similar obserwations?WHY !",
"parent_id": null,
... | 1,760,371,726.693464 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/11/17/schooling-chatgpt-on-antenna-theory-misconceptions/ | Schooling ChatGPT On Antenna Theory Misconceptions | Dan Maloney | [
"Radio Hacks"
] | [
"amateur",
"antenna",
"ChatGPT",
"Coax",
"common-mode current",
"dipole",
"feedline",
"ham",
"radio"
] | We’re not very far into the AI revolution at this point, but we’re far enough to know not to trust AI implicitly. If you accept what ChatGPT or any of the other AI chatbots have to say at face value, you might just embarrass yourself. Or worse,
you might make a mistake designing your next antenna
.
We’ll explain. [Gregg Messenger (VE6WO)] asked a seemingly simple question about antenna theory: Does an impedance mismatch between the antenna and a coaxial feedline result in common-mode current on the coax shield? It’s an important practical matter, as any ham who has had the painful experience of “RF in the shack” can tell you. They also will likely tell you that common-mode current on the shield is caused by an unbalanced antenna system, not an impedance mismatch. But when [Gregg] asked Google Gemini and ChatGPT that question, the answer came back that impedance mismatch can cause current flow on the shield. So who’s right?
In
the first video below
, [Gregg] built a simulated ham shack using a 100-MHz signal generator and a length of coaxial feedline. Using a toroidal ferrite core with a couple of turns of magnet wire and a capacitor as a current probe for his oscilloscope, he was unable to find a trace of the signal on the shield even if the feedline was unterminated, which produces the impedance mismatch that the chatbots thought would spell doom. To bring the point home, [Gregg] created another test setup in
the second video
, this time using a pair of telescoping whip antennas to stand in for a dipole antenna. With the coax connected directly to the dipole, which creates an unbalanced system, he measured a current on the feedline, which got worse when he further unbalanced the system by removing one of the legs. Adding a balun between the feedline and the antenna, which shifts the phase on each leg of the antenna 180° apart, cured the problem.
We found these demonstrations quite useful. It’s always good to see someone taking a chatbot to task over myths and common misperceptions. We look into
baluns
now and again. Or even
ununs
. | 39 | 10 | [
{
"comment_id": "8063179",
"author": "Billy Bob",
"timestamp": "2024-11-17T18:20:26",
"content": "“We’re not very far into the AI revolution at this point”..What AI revolution? Sometimes there are technological jumps. Meh. This is just good marketing.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"... | 1,760,371,726.571528 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/11/17/esp32-hosts-a-usb-keyboard-in-this-typewriter/ | ESP32 Hosts A USB Keyboard In This Typewriter | Adam Fabio | [
"hardware"
] | [
"ESP32",
"hid",
"interface",
"keyboard",
"usb"
] | Did you know the ESP32 can be a USB host? Well it can, and [Volos] uses host mode to build
this fun little word processor.
The venerable ESP32 has a well-known USB device mode. Anyone who has programmed one has used it. A bit less known is the microcontroller’s ability to host USB devices. These days, operating as a USB device is relatively simple. But acting as a host is a much more complex task. The ESP32 has a software host that works — but only for Human Interface Devices (HID). Human interface devices generally are keyboards, mice, trackballs, and similar devices that handle data relatively slowly, forming the interface with us simple humans.
[Volos] uses the
EspUsbHost
Arduino library for this project. The library makes USB host mode simple to use. Another piece of the puzzle is the LCD board [Volos] picked. It has a dual-role USB Type-C port, meaning the hardware to switch roles is baked in. Other boards may require some modifications or special cables to make things work.
The software is the best part of this build. [Volos] implemented a simple word processor. It can save and load files from a microSD card and, of course, edit text — all controlled by a USB keyboard. He had to use a 4-bit palette to save memory. This gives the device a retro charm that reminds us of
Don Lancaster’s
TV Typewriter.
The source for this and all of [Volos] projects can be
found on GitHub
. Now, all we need is a spell check that can fit in the memory constraints of the ESP32! We have to admit the chip has a lot of
potential USB tricks
. | 14 | 9 | [
{
"comment_id": "8063150",
"author": "Jouni",
"timestamp": "2024-11-17T15:22:56",
"content": "There are few ESP32 boards that have separate USB HID connector port which enable this.I’ve used PS/2 keyboards as they can be interfaced even to 8-bit Atmegas (no need for USB HID). Pretty nice way to add ... | 1,760,371,726.80443 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/11/17/a-handheld-gaming-pc-with-steam-deck-vibes/ | A Handheld Gaming PC With Steam Deck Vibes | Bryan Cockfield | [
"Games"
] | [
"amd",
"deck",
"gaming",
"handheld",
"NUC",
"pc",
"steam"
] | Since its inception, the Steam Deck has been a bit of a game changer in the PC gaming world. The goal of the handheld console was to make PC gaming as easy and straightforward as a walled-garden proprietary console like a Switch or Playstation but still allow for the more open gaming experience of a PC. At its core, though, it’s essentially a standard PC with the parts reorganized into handheld form, and there’s no reason any other small-form-factor PC can’t be made into a similar system. [CNCDan] has the skills and tools needed to do this and shows us how it’s done.
The build is based around a NUC, a small form factor computer that typically uses the same low-power mobile processors and graphics cards found in laptops but without the built-in battery or screen. This one has an AMD Ryzen 7 processor with Radeon graphics, making it reasonably high-performing for its size. After measuring out the dimensions of the small computer and preparing for other components like the battery, joysticks, buttons, and even a trackpad, it was time to create the case. Instead of turning to a 3D printer, this one is instead milled on a CNC machine. Something tells us that [CNCDan] prefers subtractive manufacturing in general.
With all the parts assembled in the case, the build turns into a faithful Steam Deck replica with a few bonuses, like an exposed Ethernet port and the knowledge that everything can easily be fixed since it was built from the ground up in the first place. The other great thing about builds like these is they don’t need an obscure NUC for the hardware;
you can always grab your old Framework mainboard for handheld gaming instead
. Reminded us of the
NucDeck
. | 9 | 2 | [
{
"comment_id": "8063177",
"author": "Marcos",
"timestamp": "2024-11-17T18:18:51",
"content": "When you say “builds like these”, and then link to the Framework project, I think it hugely undersells what CNCDan has done.He created several custom PCBs, including a battery power management system with... | 1,760,371,726.866262 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/11/17/classic-led-bubble-displays-ride-again/ | Classic LED Bubble Displays Ride Again | Dan Maloney | [
"LED Hacks"
] | [
"ASCII",
"bubble",
"hewlett packard",
"HPDL-1414",
"led",
"serial"
] | Hewlett-Packard used to make some pretty cool LED displays, many of which appeared in their iconic pocket calculators back in the 1970s and 1980s. [Upir] tracked down some of these
classic bubble displays
and used them with a microcontroller. We love the results!
The displays featured here, the HPDL-1414, aren’t quite what would have been found in an HP-35, of course. These displays have 16 segments for reasonably legible approximations of most of the ASCII character set. Also, these aren’t just the displays; rather, a pair of the bubble-topped displays, each with four characters, is mounted to a module that provides a serial interface. [Upir] found these modules online, but despite the HP logo on the PCB silkscreen, it’s not really clear who made them. The documentation was a bit thin, to say the least, but with a little translation help from Google, he figured out the serial parameters and the character encoding. The video below shows him putting these modules through their paces.
Unusually for [upir], who has made a name for himself
hacking displays to do things they weren’t designed to do
, he stuck with the stock character set baked into this module. We think it would be fun to get one of these modules and hack the firmware to provide alternative character sets or even get a few of the naked displays and build a custom interface. Sounds like a fun rainy-day project.
This reminded us of another
HP display project
we saw a while back. Or, roll your own
displays
. | 17 | 12 | [
{
"comment_id": "8063085",
"author": "ono",
"timestamp": "2024-11-17T09:42:52",
"content": "Amazing, somebody took a commercial part and used it as intended. That is properly mind-blowing !",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "8063376",
"au... | 1,760,371,726.955973 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/11/16/register-renaming-the-art-of-parallel-processing/ | Register Renaming: The Art Of Parallel Processing | Heidi Ulrich | [
"Software Hacks"
] | [
"cpu",
"CPU architecture",
"cpu design",
"efficiency",
"register",
"register renaming",
"task"
] | In the quest for faster computing, modern CPUs have turned to innovative techniques to optimize instruction execution. One such technique, register renaming, is a crucial component that helps us achieve the impressive multi-tasking abilities of modern processors. If you’re keen on hacking or tinkering with how CPUs manage tasks, this is one concept you’ll want to understand.
Here’s a breakdown of how it works
and you can watch the video, below.
In a nutshell, register renaming allows CPUs to bypass the restrictions imposed by a limited number of registers. Consider a scenario where two operations need to access the same register at once: without renaming, the CPU would be stuck, having to wait for one task to complete before starting another. Enter the renaming trick—registers are reassigned on the fly, so different tasks can use the same logical register but physically reside in different slots. This drastically reduces idle time and boosts parallel tasking. Of course, you also have to ensure that the register you are using has the correct contents at the time you are using it, but there are many ways to solve that problem. The basic technique dates back to some IBM System/360 computers and other high-performance mainframes.
Register renaming
isn’t the only way
to solve this problem. There’s
a lot that goes into a superscalar CPU
. | 12 | 4 | [
{
"comment_id": "8063119",
"author": "Ostracus",
"timestamp": "2024-11-17T13:15:12",
"content": "“The basic technique dates back to some IBM System/360 computers and other high-performance mainframes.”Interesting how much can be traced back to them.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"repl... | 1,760,371,727.061312 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/11/16/open-source-universal-rom-programmer-grows-up/ | Open Source Universal ROM Programmer Grows Up | Al Williams | [
"Microcontrollers"
] | [
"eeprom",
"eprom"
] | When we first looked at [Anders Nielsen’s]
EEPROM programmer project
, it was nice but needed some software and manual intervention and had some limitations on the parts you could program. But through the magic of Open-Source collaboration, revision 2 of the project overcomes all of these limitations and—as you can see in the video below—looks very polished.
If you recall, the programmer is in a “shield” format that can plug into an Arduino or — if you prefer a retrocomputer — a 6502uno. Along with hardware improvements from the community, [Henrik Olsson] wrote
Python software
to handle the programming (see the second video below).
The biggest change in the new version is that you don’t have to configure the voltages with jumpers anymore. This was required because different devices draw power on different pins, but a clever two-transistor circuit lets the software handle it. There is still one jumper for switching between 32-pin and 28-pin EEPROMs. The extra transistors added four cents to the total price, although if you buy the kit from [Anders], it is still $9, just like before.
Skimming the
database
, we don’t see any Microcontrollers (MPUs). However, it looks like the device should be able to program flash MPUs, too.
We covered the
first edition of this project
, and we were impressed even then. We do hope people will add MPUs and other devices like
PALs
to the project over time. | 18 | 9 | [
{
"comment_id": "8063046",
"author": "Anony",
"timestamp": "2024-11-17T05:29:49",
"content": "I wonder ifhttps://gitlab.com/DavidGriffith/miniprowill support this eventually",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "8063341",
"author": "Henrik",... | 1,760,371,727.260111 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/11/16/ethernet-from-first-principles/ | Ethernet From First Principles | Bryan Cockfield | [
"hardware"
] | [
"development",
"ethernet",
"hardware",
"networking",
"signaling",
"stm32",
"tcp/ip"
] | For someone programming in a high-level language like Python, or even for people who interact primarily with their operating system and the software running on it, it can seem like the computer hardware is largely divorced from the work. Yes, the computer has to be physically present to do something like write a Hackaday article, but most of us will not understand the Assembly language, machine code, or transistor layout well enough to build up to what makes a browser run. [Francis Stokes] is a different breed, though, continually probing these mysterious low-level regions of our computerized world where
he was recently able to send an Ethernet packet from scratch
.
[Francis] is using an STM32F401 development board for his networking experiments, but even with this powerful microcontroller, Ethernet is much more resource-hungry than we might imagine given its ubiquity in the computing world. Most will turn to a dedicated hardware
ASIC
to get the Ethernet signals out on the wires rather than bit-banging the protocol, so [Francis] armed himself with a W5100 chip to handle this complex task. Since the W5100 was on a board meant for an Arduino, there were a few kinks to work out, including soldering some wires to the chip, and then there were a few more issues with the signaling, including a bug in the code, which was writing too many times to the same memory, causing the received packet to be enormous while also completely full of garbage.
In the end, [Francis] was able to remove all of the bugs from his code, reliably send an Ethernet packet from his development board, and decode it on a computer. This is an excellent deep dive into the world of signalling and networking from the bottom up. He’s done plenty of these types of investigations before as well,
including developing his own AES cryptography from scratch
.
We’ve looked
deeply into Ethernet
, too. You can even make it work on an
FPGA
. | 24 | 8 | [
{
"comment_id": "8062997",
"author": "paulvdh",
"timestamp": "2024-11-17T01:34:15",
"content": "What about bit banging Ethernet in 2014, on an attiny85https://hackaday.com/2014/08/29/bit-banging-ethernet-on-an-attiny85/And plenty of more recent examples, Raspi Pico is popular apparently.https://html... | 1,760,371,729.004957 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/11/16/worlds-first-virtual-meeting-5100-engineers-phoned-in/ | World’s First Virtual Meeting: 5,100 Engineers Phoned In | Heidi Ulrich | [
"classic hacks",
"News",
"Phone Hacks"
] | [
"bell.aiee",
"ieee",
"meeting",
"telephone",
"virtual meeting",
"zoom"
] | Would you believe that the first large-scale virtual meeting happened as early as 1916? More than a century before Zoom meetings became just another weekday burden, the American Institute of Electrical Engineers (AIEE) pulled off an unprecedented feat: connecting 5,100 engineers across eight cities through an elaborate telephone network. Intrigued? The IEEE, the successor of the AIEE,
just published an article about it
.
This epic event stretched telephone lines over 6,500 km, using 150,000 poles and 5,000 switches, linking major hubs like Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, and San Francisco. John J. Carty banged the gavel at 8:30 p.m., kicking off a meeting in which engineers listened in through seat-mounted receivers—no buffering or “Can you hear me?” moments. Even President Woodrow Wilson joined, sending a congratulatory telegram. The meeting featured “breakout sessions” with local guest speakers, and attendees in muted cities like Denver sent telegrams, old-school Zoom chat style.
The event included musical interludes with phonograph recordings of patriotic tunes—imagine today’s hold music, but gloriously vintage. Despite its success, this wonder of early engineering vanished from regular practice until our modern virtual meetings.
We wonder if Isaac Asimov knew about this when he wrote about 3D
teleconferencing in 1953
. If you find yourself in many virtual meetings, consider
a one-way mirror
. | 11 | 6 | [
{
"comment_id": "8062930",
"author": "Thinkerer",
"timestamp": "2024-11-16T21:39:05",
"content": "“Despite its success, this wonder of early engineering vanished from regular practice until our modern virtual meetings.”False. Though the scale of that early call was impressive, voice-only conference... | 1,760,371,729.448376 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/11/16/playing-chess-against-llms-and-the-mystery-of-instruct-models/ | Playing Chess Against LLMs And The Mystery Of Instruct Models | Maya Posch | [
"Artificial Intelligence"
] | [
"chess",
"LLM"
] | At first glance, trying to play chess against a large language model (LLM) seems like a daft idea, as its weighted nodes have, at most, been trained on some chess-adjacent texts. It has no concept of board state, stratagems, or even whatever a ‘rook’ or ‘knight’ piece is. This daftness is indeed demonstrated by [Dynomight]
in a recent blog post
(
Substack version
), where the
Stockfish
chess AI is pitted against a range of LLMs, from a small Llama model to GPT-3.5. Although the outcomes (see featured image) are largely as you’d expect, there is one surprise: the
gpt-3.5-turbo-instruct
model, which seems quite capable of giving Stockfish a run for its money, albeit on Stockfish’s lower settings.
Each model was given the same query, telling it to be a chess grandmaster, to use standard notation, and to choose its next move. The stark difference between the instruct model and the others calls investigation. OpenAI describes the instruct model as an ‘InstructGPT 3.5 class model’, which
leads us to this page
on OpenAI’s site and an
associated 2022 paper
that describes how InstructGPT is effectively the standard GPT LLM model heavily fine-tuned using human feedback.
Ultimately, it seems that instruct models do better with instruction-based queries because they have been programmed that way using extensive tuning. A
[Hacker News] thread from last year
discusses the Turbo vs Instruct version of GPT 3.5. That thread also uses chess as a comparison point. Meanwhile,
ChatGPT is a sibling of InstructGPT
, per OpenAI, using Reinforcement Learning from Human Feedback (RLHF), with presumably ChatGPT users now mostly providing said feedback.
OpenAI notes repeatedly that InstructGPT nor ChatGPT provide correct responses all the time. However, within the limited problem space of chess, it would seem that it’s good enough not to bore a dedicated chess AI into digital oblivion.
If you want a digital chess partner, try your
Postscript printer
. Chess software doesn’t have to be as
large
as an AI model. | 17 | 6 | [
{
"comment_id": "8062871",
"author": "Tito Ferreira Figueiredo",
"timestamp": "2024-11-16T18:15:56",
"content": "Stockfish is not AI.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "8063009",
"author": "Gravis",
"timestamp": "2024-11-17T01:50:... | 1,760,371,729.558077 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/11/16/hackers-patents-and-3d-printing/ | Hackers, Patents, And 3D Printing | Elliot Williams | [
"3d Printer hacks",
"Hackaday Columns"
] | [
"3d printing",
"newsletter",
"patents"
] | Last week, we ran a post about
a slightly controversial video that claimed that a particular 3D-printing slicing strategy was tied up by a patent troll
. We’re absolutely not lawyers here at Hackaday, but we’ve been in the amateur 3D printing revolution since the very beginning, and surprisingly patents have played a role all along.
Modern fused-deposition modelling (FDM) 3D printing began with Stratasys’ patent US5121329A, “
Apparatus and method for creating three-dimensional objects
”, and the machines they manufactured and sold based on the technology. Go read the patent, it’s an absolute beauty and has 44 different claims that cover just about everything in FDM printing. This was the watershed invention, and today, everything claimed in the patent is free.
Stratasys’ patent on the fundamental FDM method kept anyone else from commercializing it until the patent expired in 2009. Not coincidentally, the first available home-gamer 3D printer, the Makerbot Cupcake, also went on sale in 2009.
The Stratasys machines
were also one of the big inspirations for Adrian Bowyer to start the RepRap project
, the open-source movement that basically lead to us all having cheap and cheerful 3D printers today, and he didn’t let the patent stop him from innovating before it lapsed. Indeed,
the documentation for the RepRap Darwin
dates back to 2007. Zach [Hoeken] Smith delivered our hackerspace the acrylic parts to make one just around that time, and we had it running a year or two before the Cupcake came out of
the company that he, Bre, and Adam shortly thereafter founded
.
The story of hackers and 3D printers is longer than the commercial version of the same story would imply, and a lot of important innovations have come out of our community since then too. For instance, have a look at Stratasys’
patent on heated bed technology
. At first read, it seems to cover removable heated beds, but have a look at the cutout at the end of claim 1: “wherein the polymer coating is not a polymer tape”. This cutout is presumably in response to the at-the-time common practice of buying Kapton, PEI, or PET tape and applying that to removable heated bed surfaces. I know I was doing that in 2012, because I read about it on IRC or something, long before the Stratasys patent was filed in 2014. They could only get a patent for sprayed-on coatings.
As [Helge] points out, it’s also easily verifiable that the current patent on “brick layers” that we’re worrying about, filed in 2020, comes later than
this feature request to Prusa Slicer
that covers essentially the same thing in 2019. We assume that the patent examiner simply missed that obvious prior art – they are human after all. But I certainly wouldn’t hesitate to implement this feature given the documented timing.
I would even be so bold as to say that
most
of the post-2010 innovation in 3D printing has been made by hobbyists. While the RepRap movement was certainly inspired by Stratasys’ invention in the beginning, our community is where the innovation is happening now, and maybe even more starkly on the software side of things than the hardware. Either way, as long as
you’re just doing it for fun
, let the suits worry about the patents. Hackers gotta hack.
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
! | 34 | 13 | [
{
"comment_id": "8062841",
"author": "Timo P",
"timestamp": "2024-11-16T16:51:33",
"content": "This is why one should always publish their ideas if they want to share it for common good.Any prior art voids patents. That was the one thing I learned from patents from a school course.",
"parent_id"... | 1,760,371,729.631658 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/11/16/spotted-at-supercon-glowtape-wearable-display/ | Spotted At Supercon: Glowtape Wearable Display | Tom Nardi | [
"LED Hacks",
"Wearable Hacks"
] | [
"glow in the dark",
"Supercon 2024",
"UV LED",
"wristwatch"
] | We’re big fans of unusual timepieces here at Hackaday, so it didn’t take long before somebody called our attention to the
gloriously luminescent watch that [Henner Zeller] was wearing
at this year’s Supercon.
He calls it the Glowtape, and it uses a dense array of UV LEDs and a long strip of glow-in-the-dark material to display the time and date, as well as images and long strings of text written out horizontally to create an impromptu banner. It looked phenomenal in person, with the energized areas on the tape glowing brightly during the evening festivities in the alleyway.
The text and images would fade fairly quickly, but in practice, that’s hardly a problem when you’re just trying to check the current time. If there was something to limit the practicality on this one, it would have to be the meter-long piece of material that you’ve got to keep pushing and pulling through the mechanism — but it’s a price we’re willing to pay.
Want one of your own? [Henner] has shared all of the source code for the wearable, from the OpenSCAD scripts to generate the 3D printed enclosure to the C firmware for the RP2040 that runs the show. The LED array itself is actually a
spin-off of his Glowxels project
, which is worth checking out if you’d like to recreate this concept on a much larger scale.
This isn’t the first time we’ve seen
this
technique used for this kind of thing
, but it may be the most compact version of the concept we’ve seen so far. | 14 | 6 | [
{
"comment_id": "8062774",
"author": "alialiali",
"timestamp": "2024-11-16T13:44:20",
"content": "I love this hahaCan the tape be made into a loop and automatically moved through?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "8062859",
"author": "De... | 1,760,371,729.50453 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/11/16/wifi-status-indicator-keeps-eye-on-the-network/ | WiFi Status Indicator Keeps Eye On The Network | Tom Nardi | [
"internet hacks",
"Microcontrollers"
] | [
"ESP32",
"IP5306",
"network",
"status indicator",
"wifi",
"ws2182b"
] | These days, most of us take the instant availability of a high-speed link to the Internet for granted. But despite all of the latest technology, things still occasionally go pear-shaped — meaning that blistering fiber optic connection you’ve got to the world’s collected knowledge (not to mention, memes) can still go down when you need it the most.
After suffering some connectivity issues,
[Arnov Sharma] decided to put together a little box
that could alert everyone in visual range to the status of the local router. It won’t fix the problem, of course, but there’s a certain value to getting timely status updates. Using a 3D printed enclosure and a couple of custom PCBs, the build is fairly comprehensive, and could certainly be pressed into more advanced usage if given the appropriate firmware. If you’ve been thinking of a Internet-connected status indicator, this is certainly a project worth
copying
studying closely.
The aptly named “Wi-Fi Status Box” uses two PCBs: one to hold the Seeed Studio XIAO ESP32C3 microcontroller and four WS2812B addressable LEDs, and another that plays host to the IP5306 power management IC.
That latter board in particular is something you may want to file away for a future project, as it not only handles charging lithium-ion batteries such as common 18650 cells, but it also features an LED “fuel gauge” and the ability to boost the output power to 5 VDC with relatively few external components.
As for the firmware on this one, it’s simplicity itself. The goal is to see if the router has gone down, so all the code does is check every ten seconds to see if the ESP32 is still able to connect to the given wireless network. If the connection is good the LEDs are green, but if the link fails, they flip over to red. Combined with a printed front panel that uses transparent filament to soften the glow of the LEDs, and you’ve got an attractive way of knowing when it’s time to panic.
Too obvious for you? Perhaps you’d prefer this version that uses an
analog multimeter to display when the net drops out
. | 19 | 8 | [
{
"comment_id": "8062718",
"author": "shinsukke",
"timestamp": "2024-11-16T09:35:12",
"content": "The firmware seemsTOOsimple for the hardware its given. Some rudimentary speed test etc would make it more functional I think.I was dealing with a particularly unreliable ISP a few years ago at my paren... | 1,760,371,729.063828 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/11/15/its-a-soldering-iron-its-a-multimeter-relax-its-both/ | It’s A Soldering Iron! It’s A Multimeter! Relax! It’s Both! | Al Williams | [
"Tool Hacks"
] | [
"multimeter",
"soldering iron"
] | Imagine this. A young person comes to you wanting to get started in the electronic hobby. They ask what five things should they buy to get started. Make your list. We’ll wait. We bet we can guess at least two of your items: a multimeter, and a soldering iron. [LearnElectroncsRepair] recently showed us a review of the
Zotek Zoyi ZT-N2
which is a soldering iron and a multimeter in one unit. You can watch the video review below.
Honestly, when we heard about this, we didn’t think much of the combination. It doesn’t seem like having your probe get red hot is a feature. However, the probe tip replaces the soldering iron tip, so you are either soldering or measuring, but not both at the same time.
The soldering iron part looks a lot like a T100 iron with a USB connector and a little LCD screen. The device is portable, so it has a little cheap soldering iron stand. As a multimeter, it does all the basic tests, but it is only usable for low-voltage applications under 36V.
The negative lead plugs into the USB connector, so the meter runs off an internal battery. While it looks like it is usable, we couldn’t really think of many cases where this would be handy unless you are really trying to pack a lot in a small space. We’d rather throw a small meter in the bag and call it a day.
In 2017, these little
soldering irons
were a fresh fad. Now, they are
pretty common
. | 23 | 11 | [
{
"comment_id": "8062689",
"author": "Daniel Dunn",
"timestamp": "2024-11-16T06:26:26",
"content": "Looks actually really cool, aside from the lack of a capacitance and diode range.At this point im surprised there’s no open source oscilloscope/iron/multimeter/PSU/power bank/solar charger/logic analy... | 1,760,371,729.401612 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/11/15/basic-co-inventor-thomas-kurtz-has-passed-away/ | BASIC Co-Inventor Thomas Kurtz Has Passed Away | Jenny List | [
"Software Development"
] | [
"basic",
"Thomas E kurtz"
] | It’s with sadness that we note
the passing of Thomas E. Kurtz
, on November 12th. He was co-inventor of the BASIC programming language back in the 1960s, and though his creation may not receive the attention in 2024 that it would have done in 1984, the legacy of his work lives on in the generation of technologists who gained their first taste of computer programming through it.
For the 1980s kids who got beyond this coding masterpiece, BASIC launched many a technology career.
The origins of BASIC lie in the Dartmouth Timesharing System, like similar timesharing operating systems of the day, designed to allow the resources of a single computer to be shared across many terminals. In this case the computer was at Dartmouth College, and BASIC was designed to be a language with which software could be written by average students who perhaps didn’t have a computing background. In the decade that followed it proved ideal for the new microcomputers, and few were the home computers of the era which didn’t boot into some form of BASIC interpreter. Kurtz continued his work as a distinguished academic and educator until his retirement in 1993, but throughout he remained as the guiding hand of the language.
Should you ask a computer scientist their views on BASIC, you’ll undoubtedly hear about its shortcomings, and no doubt mention will be made of the GOTO statement and how it makes larger projects very difficult to write. This is all true, but at the same time it misses the point of it being a readily understandable language for first-time users of machines with very little in the way of resources. It was the perfect programming start for a 1970s or 1980s beginner, and once its limitations had been reached it provided the impetus for a move to higher things. We’ve not written a serious BASIC program in over three decades, but we’re indebted to Thomas Kurtz and his collaborator for what they gave us.
Thanks [Stephen Walters] for the tip. | 74 | 36 | [
{
"comment_id": "8062657",
"author": "RChadwick",
"timestamp": "2024-11-16T03:14:35",
"content": "Maybe nobody has respect for BASIC nowadays, and maybe Kurtz’s passing won’t hit home quite so much. I have a mental block trying to learn languages that seem to be designed to be overcomplicated. Every... | 1,760,371,729.274589 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/11/15/risc-v-pushes-400-million-forth-words-per-second/ | RISC-V Pushes 400 Million Forth Words Per Second | Al Williams | [
"Microcontrollers"
] | [
"forth",
"RISC-V"
] | We’ll be honest. Measuring Forth words per second doesn’t seem like a great benchmark since a Forth word could be very simple or quite complex. But we think the real meaning is “up to 400 million words per second.” There was a time when that level of performance would take a huge computer. These days, a simple board that costs a few bucks can do the trick, according to [Peter Forth] in an
online presentation
.
The key is the use of the Milk V Duo and some similar boards. Some of these look similar to a Raspberry Pi Pico. However, this chip on board has two RISC V cores, an ARM core, and an 8051. There’s also an accelerator coprocessor for vector operations like AI or video applications.
[Peter] has some
popular Forth systems ported to the machine
on GitHub. This might be the easiest way to get started because, as he mentions in the video, the documentation for these boards leaves something to be desired. However, these chips have a lot of capability for a small price.
We
like Forth
. If you want something that is less of a port, we’ve seen some
native
RISC V implementations. | 28 | 8 | [
{
"comment_id": "8062622",
"author": "john",
"timestamp": "2024-11-16T01:03:23",
"content": "A lot of hard science (chemistry/biochemistryphysics/statistics) computer programs began life in the Forth universe. I suspect that hackers now have an easy path to making DIY scientific instrumentation more... | 1,760,371,729.339857 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/11/15/bypassing-airpods-hearing-aid-georestriction-with-a-faraday-cage/ | Bypassing Airpods Hearing Aid Georestriction With A Faraday Cage | Maya Posch | [
"Reverse Engineering"
] | [
"AirPod",
"AirPods Pro",
"hearing aid"
] | When Apple recently announced the hearing aid feature on their new AirPods Pro 2, it got the attention of quite a few people. Among these were [Rithwik Jayasimha] and friends, with [Rithwik] getting a pair together with his dad for use by his hard-of-hearing grandmother. That’s when he found out that this feature is effectively limited to the US and a small number of other countries due them being ‘regulated health features’, per Apple. With India not being on the approved countries list and with no interest in official approval legalities, [Rithwik] set to work to
devise a way to bypass this restriction
.
As noted in the blog post, the primary reason for using AirPods here instead of official hearing aids is due to the cost of the latter, which makes them a steal for anyone who is dealing with mild to moderate hearing loss. Following the official
Hearing Aid feature setup instructions
requires that your location is detected as being in an approved country. If it is, the Health App (on iOS 18.1) will popup a ‘Get Started’ screen. The challenge was thus to make the iOS device believe that it was actually in the FDA-blessed US and not India.
Merely spoofing the location and locale didn’t work, so the next step was to put the iOS device into a Faraday cage along with an ESP32 that broadcast California-based WiFi SSIDs. Once the thus treated iPad rebooted into the US, it could be used to enable the hearing aid feature. Next [Rithwik] and friends created a more streamlined setup and procedure to make it possible for others to replicate this feat.
As also noted in the blog post, the Hearing Aid feature is essentially a specially tuned Transparency mode preset, which is why using AirPods for this feature
has been a thing for a while
, but with this preset it’s much better tuned for cases of hearing loss. | 54 | 10 | [
{
"comment_id": "8062555",
"author": "TG",
"timestamp": "2024-11-15T21:05:47",
"content": "One of those regulation idiocies which seriously tempts you to become libertarian. They’re way better for my mother and about 1/30th of the price of far inferior devices which are actual medical hardware (henc... | 1,760,371,729.158446 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/11/15/i-want-to-believe-how-to-make-technology-value-judgements/ | I Want To Believe: How To Make Technology Value Judgements | Jenny List | [
"Featured",
"Interest",
"Rants",
"Slider"
] | [
"belief",
"I want to believe",
"technology"
] | In the iconic 1990s TV series
The X Files
, David Duchovny’s FBI agent-paranormal investigator Fox Mulder has a poster on his office wall. It shows a flying saucer in flight, with the slogan “I Want To Believe”. It perfectly sums up the dilemma the character faces. And while I’m guessing that only a few Hackaday readers have gone down the full lizard-people rabbit hole, wanting to believe is probably something that a lot of us who love sci-fi understand. It would be a fascinating event for science if a real extraterrestrial craft would show up, so of course we want to believe to some extent, even if we’re not seriously expecting it to appear in a Midwestern cornfield and break out the probes any time soon.
By All Means Believe. But Don’t Wreck Your Career
The infamous Fleischmann and Pons paper from 1989
on cold fusion.
Outside the realm of TV drama and science fiction it’s a sentiment that also applies in more credible situations. Back at the end of the 1980s for example when so-called
cold fusion
became a global story it seemed as though we might be on the verge of the Holy Grail of clean energy breakthroughs. Sadly we never got our Mr. Fusion to power our DeLorean, and the scientific proof was revealed to be on very weak foundations. The careers of the two researchers involved were irreparably damaged, and the entire field became a byword for junk science. A more recently story in a similar vein is the
EM drive
, a theoretical reactionless force generator that was promising enough at one point that even NASA performed some research on it. Sadly there were no magic engines forthcoming, so while it was worth reporting on the initial excitement, we’re guessing the story won’t come back.
When evaluating a scientific or technical breakthrough that seems as miraculous as it is unexpected then, of course we all want to believe. We evaluate based on the information we have in front of us though, and we all have a credibility pyramid. There’s nothing wrong with having an interest in fields that are more hope than delivery, indeed almost every technology that powers our world will at some time have to overcome skepticism in its gestation period. Perhaps it’s best to say that it’s okay to have hope, but hope shouldn’t override our scrutiny of the proof. Of course I want a perpetual motion machine, who wouldn’t, but as a fictional engineer once allegedly said, “Ye cannae change the laws of physics”.
An Example Here In 2024
The hydrogen future is very seductive. But does it work? Jóhann Heiðar Árnason,
CC BY-SA 3.0
.
All this introspection has been brought to the fore for me by something very much in the present, the so-called hydrogen economy. It’s difficult to ignore our climate emergency, and among the energy solutions aimed at doing something about it, hydrogen seems very promising.
It’s really easy to make from water by electrolysis, there are several ways to turn it into useful energy, and the idea is that if you can store it for later use you’re on to a winner. We’ve seen hydrogen
cars
,
trucks
,
aircraft
,
heavy machinery
,
trains
, and even
the gas supplanting methane
in the domestic grid, so surely the hydrogen future is well under way, right?
Sadly not, because as many a pilot project has shown, it’s difficult to store or transport, it makes many existing metal fittings brittle, and the environmental benefit is often negated by the hydrogen being generated from higher carbon electrical supplies. We still want to believe, but we can’t claim it’s delivering yet.
Whenever we feature a hydrogen-based story, as for example with
this experimental storage tech from Swiss researchers
, there is no shortage of comments about all of hydrogen’s shortcomings, and some even accuse us of somehow being the snake-oil salesmen shilling the questionable product. I feel this misses the point, that even though in almost all cases the battery is for now the better option, we cover interesting technology stories regardless of judgements over their eventual success. Hydrogen has enough real science and engineering behind it that its problems might one day be overcome, thus we’d be doing our readers a disservice if we didn’t cover it. There are sometimes newsworthy stories upon which
we very much take a credible stand based on opinion
, but when it comes to pure tech stories such as a hydrogen vehicle we’re simply reporting on the story because we find it interesting and we think you will too. We don’t know that the breakthrough engineering work
won’t
occur, but we do know that it hasn’t yet.
So when looking at a piece of technology that’s not delivered on its promise, ask for a moment whether there’s a likely “yet” on the end of the sentence without too much of a suspension of credibility. You might find yourself pleasantly surprised. | 70 | 20 | [
{
"comment_id": "8062512",
"author": "TG",
"timestamp": "2024-11-15T18:15:49",
"content": "It’s perfectly fine to do some investigation on a long-shot probably-crank piece of technology, just in case.But emdrive was 3000% BS from day one. I can’t understand people who fell for yet another reactionle... | 1,760,371,729.747711 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/11/15/hackaday-podcast-episode-296-supercon-wrapup-with-tom-and-al-the-3dp-brick-layering-controversy-and-how-to-weld-in-space/ | Hackaday Podcast Episode 296: Supercon Wrapup With Tom And Al, The 3DP Brick Layering Controversy, And How To Weld In Space | Tom Nardi | [
"Hackaday Columns",
"Podcasts"
] | [
"Hackaday Podcast"
] | In this episode you’ll get to hear not one, not two, but three Hackaday Editors! Now that the dust has mostly settled from the 2024 Hackaday Supercon, Al Williams joins Elliot and Tom to compare notes and pick out a few highlights from the event. But before that, the week’s discussion will cover the questionable patents holding back a promising feature for desktop 3D printers, a new digital book from NODE, and the surprisingly limited history of welding in space. You’ll also hear about the challenge of commercializing free and open source software, the finicky optics of the James Web Space Telescope, and the once exciting prospect of distributing software via pages of printed barcodes.
Where to Follow Hackaday Podcast
Places to follow Hackaday podcasts:
iTunes
Spotify
Stitcher
RSS
YouTube
Check
out our Libsyn landing page
Direct MP3
download for offline, “easy” listening
.
Episode 296 Show Notes:
News:
Britain’s Oldest Satellite On The Move: A Space Curiosity
What’s that Sound?
Congratulations to [Jon] for guessing this week’s sound, getting lucky with the 20-sided die, and for having the “most correct” answer to boot!
Interesting Hacks of the Week:
Brick Layers: The Promise Of Stronger 3D Prints And Why We Cannot Have Nice Things
A Beautifully Illustrated Guide To Making
The Pinouts Book Is Here, And It’s Just What You Need
Building A DIY Nipkow Disk Display
Mechanical Image Acquisition With A Nipkow Disc
NASA Announces New Trials For In-Space Laser Welding
The End Of Ondsel And Reflecting On The Commercial Prospects For FreeCAD
Why The Saturn V Used Kerosene For Its Hydraulics Fluid
Quick Hacks:
Elliot’s Picks
Making A Unique Type Of Wind Gauge For Home Assistant Use
Retrogadgets: Oscilloscope Cameras
The Constant Monitoring And Work That Goes Into JWST’s Optics
Welcome To SubTropolis: The Limestone Mine Turned Climate-Controlled Business Complex
Tom’s Picks:
HIDman Brings Modern Input To Vintage PCs
A Brief History Of Cyrix, Or How To Get Sued By Intel A Lot
Teaching Computers To Read — Sort Of | 5 | 4 | [
{
"comment_id": "8062625",
"author": "Adrian",
"timestamp": "2024-11-16T01:05:28",
"content": "Re “first panel at Supercon”: There was a panel about the maker business journey at Supercon 2019, hosted by Jasmine Bracket of Tindie fame, featuring Erika Earl, Paul Beech (Pimoroni), and Spencer Owen (R... | 1,760,371,729.950531 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/11/15/this-week-in-security-hardware-attacks-iot-security-and-more/ | This Week In Security: Hardware Attacks, IoT Security, And More | Jonathan Bennett | [
"Hackaday Columns",
"News",
"Security Hacks",
"Slider"
] | [
"Deserialization",
"glitching",
"hardware",
"This Week in Security"
] | This week starts off with examinations of a couple hardware attacks that you might have considered impractical. Take
a Ball Grid Array (BGA) NAND removal attack
, for instance. The idea is that a NAND chip might contain useful information in the form of firmware or hard-coded secrets.
The question is whether a BGA desolder job puts this sort of approach out of the reach of most attackers. Now, this is Hackaday. We regularly cover how our readers do BGA solder jobs, so it should come as no surprise to us that less than two-hundred Euro worth of tools, and a little know-how and bravery, was all it took to extract this chip. Plop it onto a pogo-pin equipped reader, use some sketchy Windows software, and boom you’ve got firmware.
What exactly to do with that firmware access is a little less straightforward. If the firmware is unencrypted and there’s not a cryptographic signature, then you can just modify the firmware. Many devices include signature checking at boot, so that limits the attack to finding vulnerabilities and searching for embedded secrets. And then worst case, some platforms use entirely encrypted firmware. That means there’s another challenge, of either recovering the key, or finding a weakness in the encryption scheme.
Glitches to the Rescue
Speaking of looking for those vulnerabilities,
let’s talk about glitching
. We’ve talked about some interesting techniques in the past, like using a peizo element from a lighter. This coverage takes the opposite technique, shorting pins to ground during code runtime. [Maurizio Agazzini] takes a look at glitching technique on the ESP32.
The key, it seems, is setting up a repeatable test case. I like a quote from the article, that the goal is to
make a “world” considered non-deterministic a little more deterministic.
In this case, that means understanding the exact instructions that the MCU is running, triggering an exception to know the exact state the MCU is in after the test, and exactly timing the fault attempt.
Do 36,000 attempts at different timings and pulse lengths, chart it out, and see what happens. And there are some interesting observations there. One of the most interesting rabbit holes from the article is debunking of the idea of skipped instructions as the result of glitches. What actually seems to happen, when the glitch is a crowbar circuit to ground, is that individual bits get pulled to 0. That can corrupt either the instruction or memory itself. Understanding those glitches is key to figuring out how to abuse them. We’ll be keeping an eye out for the next installment in this one.
The S in IOT Stands for Security
Claroty’s Team82
took aim at the OvrC cloud platform
, an IoT remote management solution, and found some problems. And when I say “some problems”, I really mean that every device connected to the cloud controller could be fully pwned. Starting with an easy enumeration using MAC Addresses, every device could be mapped and determined if it was claimed or not. The nutty part here is that users that opted out of cloud control were just considered unclaimed devices, making takeover even easier.
Claiming a device was intended to require both the MAC Address and a unique serial number. A URL endpoint on the platform actually skipped verifying the serial number, allowing for easy claiming of any unclaimed device with only a MAC address. And claimed devices? The OvrC platform has support for device hubs, where is a local management device where a user can pair multiple individual IoT devices. Impersonate a hub, and you can force already claimed devices to the unclaimed status.
Oh, and hub devices had a hidden superuser account with a password derived from the MAC address and another knowable service tag value. And with Superuser access, there’s a diagnostics menu that includes direct command injection. So there’s that. OvrC has addressed and fixed the reported flaws, making for a bit more secure IoT devices.
BinaryFormatter is Insecure and Can’t Be Made Secure
That title isn’t the sort of thing you want to hear from your upstream vendor, about a function call you’re using in your code. Here we have Watchtowr, in their gloriously snarky style,
detailing a deserialization flaw in Citrix’s Virtual Apps and Desktops
. This is one of those thin client solutions, where the read hard work is done on a central machine in the server room.
One of the killer features of this enterprise app is session recording. That’s the ability to
spy on
observe users, and play it back later for analysis. The problem is that this data has to get serialized and streamed over the network. And in a weird turn of programming fate, the MSMQ service that handles this is accessible over HTTP. That’s SOAP over HTTP, if you really must know. And because of the reliance on BinaryFormatter, it’s remotely exploitable. This ends up as a remote code execution bug, and the resolution is as yet not entirely known. Citrix has received and confirmed the bug, and the disclosure was set for November 12, but no CVE or formal patch announcement has been made.
Bits and Bytes
I’m not sure if it’s more insulting or less insulting to fall to a ransomware attack
where it’s just Windows Bitlocker that’s doing the encryption
. Apparently the criminals behind ShrinkLocker have taken the approach that there’s no reason to bother actually writing encryption code for their ransomware, since Microsoft has perfectly serviceable encryption already. The good news is that as one might expect from such coding laziness, the implementation is flawed, and there is a decryptor available that can potentially recover the password.
In a strike against fraud and global computer crime,
law enforcement agencies have seized a whopping 22,000 IP addresses, and made 41 arrests
. Dubbed Operation Synergia II, this one is interesting in that much of the law enforcement action happened in China and other Eastern countries, with support from both Kaspersky and Interpol.
There’s a new sneaky way to smuggle malicious payloads on MacOS
. This one seems to be coming from North Korea’s Lazarus group. MacOS has extended Attributes for files and directories, and can apparently be used to hold raw text. It’s not visible in Finder, but can be found with
xattr
command. In this case, it’s not a vulnerability, but simply a very uncommon place to sneak some malicious script onto a system. | 9 | 3 | [
{
"comment_id": "8062428",
"author": "Stephen",
"timestamp": "2024-11-15T15:49:51",
"content": "“One of the most interesting rabbit holes from the article…”Lewis Carroll didn’t know what he was starting when he titled the first chapter of his book “Down The Rabbit Hole”.",
"parent_id": null,
... | 1,760,371,729.90882 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/11/15/homebrew-ph-meter-uses-antimony-electrode/ | Homebrew PH Meter Uses Antimony Electrode | Dan Maloney | [
"chemistry hacks"
] | [
"antimony",
"borosilicate glass",
"copper",
"copper sulfate",
"electrochemistry",
"electrode",
"pH",
"pH meter",
"redox"
] | Understanding the nature of pH has bedeviled beginning (and not-so-beginning) chemistry students for nearly as long as chemistry has had students. It all seems so arbitrary, being the base-10 log of the inverse of hydrogen ion concentration and with a measurement range of 0 to 14. Add to that the electrochemical reactions needed to measure pH electronically, and it’s enough to make your head spin.
Difficulties aside, [Markus Bindhammer] decided to tackle the topic and came up with
this interesting digital pH meter
as a result. Measuring pH electronically is all about the electrode, or rather a pair of electrodes, one of which is a reference electrode. The potential difference between the electrodes when dipped into the solution under test correlates to the pH of the solution. [Markus] created his electrode by drawing molten antimony into a length of borosilicate glass tubing containing a solid copper wire as a terminal. The reference electrode was made from another piece of glass tubing, also with a copper terminal but filled with a saturated solution of copper(II) sulfate and plugged with a wooden skewer soaked in potassium nitrate.
In theory, this electrode system should result in a linear correlation between the pH of the test solution and the potential difference between the electrodes, easily measured with a multimeter. [Marb]’s results were a little different, though, leading him to use a microcontroller to scale the electrode output and display the pH on an OLED.
The relaxing video below shows the build process and more detail on the electrochemistry involved. It might be worth getting your head around this, since
liquid metal batteries based on antimony
are becoming a thing. | 11 | 3 | [
{
"comment_id": "8062339",
"author": "craig",
"timestamp": "2024-11-15T12:28:28",
"content": "Was once a working chemist. The whole definition of pH and the general use of the “explaination” that “it’s easier this way” has always been frustrating. Anyone taking chemistry learns about concentrations ... | 1,760,371,730.236507 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/11/15/desert-island-acetylene-from-seashells-and-driftwood/ | Desert Island Acetylene From Seashells And Driftwood | Dan Maloney | [
"chemistry hacks"
] | [
"acetylene",
"calcium carbide",
"calcium hydroxide",
"charcoal",
"decompositions",
"reduction"
] | [MacGyver] would be proud of [Hyperspace Pirate]’s rough and ready method of
producing acetylene gas from seashells and driftwood
.
Acetylene, made by decomposing calcium carbide with water, is a vitally important industrial gas. Not only as a precursor in many chemical processes, but also as the fuel for the famous “blue wrench,” a tool without which auto mechanics working in the Rust Belt would be reduced to tears. To avoid this, [Hyperspace Pirate] started by beachcombing for the raw materials: shells to make calcium oxide and wood to make charcoal. Charcoal is pretty easy; you just cook chunks of wood in a reducing environment to drive off everything but the carbon. Making calcium oxide from the calcium carbonate in the shells isn’t much harder, with ground seashells heated in a propane-fired furnace to release carbon dioxide.
With the raw ingredients in hand, things get a little tricky. Making calcium carbide requires a lot of heat, far more than a simple propane burner can provide. [Hyperspace Pirate] decided to go with an electric arc furnace, to which end he cannibalized a 120 V to 240 V step-up converter for its toroidal transformer, which with a few extra windings provided the needed current to run an arc through carbon electrodes. This generated the needed heat, and then some, as the ceramic firebrick he was using to contain the inferno melted. After rewinding the melted secondary windings on his makeshift transformer and switching to a stainless steel crucible, he was able to make enough calcium carbide to generate an impressive amount of acetylene. The video below documents the process and the sooty results, as well as details a little of the excitement that metal acetylides offer.
For more about acetylene and its many uses,
[This Old Tony] has you covered
. | 35 | 11 | [
{
"comment_id": "8062257",
"author": "metalman",
"timestamp": "2024-11-15T10:17:35",
"content": "this is kind of like part of a civilisation hard reboot program,and shows that even, worse case ontario, things would bounce back for anthropocene 2.0",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replie... | 1,760,371,730.412503 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/11/14/retro-calculator-build-proves-the-space-age-isnt-what-it-used-to-be/ | Retro Calculator Build Proves The Space Age Isn’t What It Used To Be | Dan Maloney | [
"Retrocomputing"
] | [
"74HC192",
"calculator",
"decade",
"dial",
"NE-2",
"neon",
"retro",
"rotary"
] | The common wisdom these days is that even if we wanted to get back to the Moon the way we did in the 1960s, we’d never be able to do it. Most of the blame for that usually falls on the loss of institutional knowledge thanks to skilled minds and hands that have been stilled by the passage of time, but the real kicker would be finding replacements for all the parts that we used back then that just aren’t made anymore. A similar problem exists for those seeking to recreate the circuits that graced the pages of the many magazines that catered to electronics hobbyists back in the day.
Take
this “Space Age Decimal Computer” reproduction
that [Bob Alexander] undertook. Smitten with the circuit after seeing
our story
about a 1966 article detailing its construction, he decided to roll one of his own. That proved to be far harder than he thought it would be. The original circuit, really little more than an adding machine using a rotary telephone dial as an input device, used
neon lamp ring buffers
for counting, The trouble is, while NE-2 neon lamps are still made, they aren’t made very precisely. That makes it difficult to build a working ring buffer, which relies on precise on and off voltages. That was even a problem back then; the author suggested buying 100 lamps and carefully characterizing them after aging them in to get the 60 lamps needed.
In the end, [Bob] settled for modifying the circuit while making the build look as close as possible to the original. He managed to track down the exact model of enclosure used in the original. The front panel is populated with a rotary dial just like the original, and the same neon lamps are used too, but as indicators rather than in ring buffers. Behind the scenes, [Bob] relied on 7400-series counters and decoders to make it all work — kudos for sticking with 1970s tech and not taking the easy way out with an Arduino.
The video below goes into more detail on the build and the somewhat kludgy operation of the machine, with a few excellent [Tom Lehrer] references and a nice Cybertruck dunk to boot. | 20 | 7 | [
{
"comment_id": "8062211",
"author": "Fred",
"timestamp": "2024-11-15T08:47:12",
"content": "I think a very big problem with ‘getting back to the moon’ ‘like we did’ is WHS (work health and safety). Any sort of risk in the workplace has to be eliminated, or (at least in Australia), the boss ends up ... | 1,760,371,730.47992 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/11/14/nebraskan-farmers-were-using-wind-turbines-before-environmentalism-was-invented/ | Nebraskan Farmers Were Using Wind Turbines Before Environmentalism Was Invented | Jenny List | [
"green hacks"
] | [
"19th century",
"farm hacks",
"Wind turbine"
] | To a casual observer of public discourse here in 2024 it seem extremely odd that the issue of replacing coal fired power stations with wind turbines is a matter of controversy, whether in America or Europe it’s an issue which causes some sparks to fly. The
Atlantic
has a recent article with a set of pictures from a gentler time in which the industrious nature of Nebraskan farmers in the 1890s receives praise
as they create a wide variety of home-made wind turbines
.
Farmers have always been the best hardware hackers, using what they have at hand to solve their problems and create the things they need. Perhaps out image of agricultural wind power is one of commercially produced wind pumps, but these are the generation of home-made devices which preceded that. Some of them look conventional to modern eyes, but others such as the horizontal “Jumbo” turbines have little equivalent today.
It’s easy to forget with so many energy sources at our disposal, that in the past the locality affected the choice of motive power. The Netherlands doesn’t have windmills because they are pretty, but because hundreds of years ago they lacked handy coal mines or convenient heads of water. Similarly out in the Nebraskan prairies they had plenty of wind, and never the folk to pass up on an opportunity, they made the best of it. And we’re very glad over a century later, that someone took the time to record their work.
If you’re hungry for more old-style wind power,
we’ve got you covered
, meanwhile 19th century America
was no stranger to clever ways to use power
.
Thanks [Hugh Brown] for the tip. | 18 | 9 | [
{
"comment_id": "8062173",
"author": "irox",
"timestamp": "2024-11-15T04:41:24",
"content": "So much text, but no information, only put downs.Why not have a serious discussion about power production and include the very down sides? Rather than just insult people… Just saying…",
"parent_id": null... | 1,760,371,730.292848 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/11/14/repairing-the-questionable-25000-tom-evans-audiophile-pre-amp/ | Repairing The Questionable £25,000 Tom Evans Audiophile Pre-Amp | Maya Posch | [
"Repair Hacks"
] | [
"audiophile",
"preamplifier"
] | One of the power supply boards in the Tom Evans Mastergroove SR MkIII preamplifier. (Credit: Mend it Mark, YouTube)
It’s not much of a secret that in the world of ‘audiophile gear’ there is a lot of snake oil and deception, including many products that are at best of questionable value. The Tom Evans Mastergroove SR mkIII preamplifier is one example of this, as [Mark] from the
Mend it Mark
YouTube channel
found in a recent video
when he got one to repair which the manufacturer claimed ‘could not be fixed’. This marvel of audio engineering provides amplification for record players, for the low-low price of only
twenty-five thousand quid
, or
about 29.000 US bucks
. So what’s inside one of these expensive marvels?
Claiming to be a high-end unit, with only ten units produced per year, you’d expect a gold-plated PCB with excellent noise isolation. The unit does come with an absolutely massive external power supply that dwarfs the preamplifier itself, but the real surprise came after opening up the unit itself to take a peek at the damage, some of which was caused by transport.
As it turns out, the inside of the preamplifier consists out of four stacks of rather cheap, home-made looking boards with what looks like improvised RF shielding in the form of bare PCBs and filed-off markings on many parts. In between the rat’s nest of wiring running everywhere, [Mark] had to trace the broken channel’s wiring, creating a full repair manual in the process. Along the way one of the opamp boards was found to be defective, courtesy of a single shorted tantalum capacitor.
With the tantalum capacitor replaced, [Mark] had repaired the unit, but even though the preamplifier isn’t terribly designed, the illusion of its price tag has been shattered worse than the contents of a parcel kicked across the parking lot by the Royal Mail.
Thanks to [Jim] for the tip.
Editor’s note: The video
got taken down after the manufacturer issues a DMCA claim
. | 123 | 30 | [
{
"comment_id": "8062086",
"author": "Brad",
"timestamp": "2024-11-15T00:11:40",
"content": "My favorite audio snakeoil is this £1,662.50 “audiophile grade” ethernet cable:https://www.audiosanctuary.co.uk/vertere-pulse-data-ethernet-cable.htmlThey also sell similarly priced USB cables.Yeah, I’m sure... | 1,760,371,730.646545 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/11/14/bluetooth-dongle-gives-up-its-secrets-with-quick-snooping-hack/ | Bluetooth Dongle Gives Up Its Secrets With Quick Snooping Hack | Dan Maloney | [
"Reverse Engineering"
] | [
"ble",
"bluetooth",
"frame",
"hci",
"host controller interface",
"packet",
"reverse engineering",
"wireshark"
] | There’s a lot going on in our wireless world, and the number of packets whizzing back and forth between our devices is staggering. All this information can be a rich vein to mine for IoT hackers, but how do you zero in on the information that matters? That depends, of course, but if your application involves Bluetooth,
you might be able to snoop in on the conversation relatively easily
.
By way of explanation, we turn to [Mark Hughes] and his Boondock Echo, a device
we’ve featured in these pages before
. [Mark] needed to know how long the Echo would operate when powered by a battery bank, as well as specifics about the power draw over time. He had one of those Fnirsi USB power meter dongles, the kind that talks to a smartphone app over Bluetooth. To tap into the conversation, he enabled Host Control Interface logging on his phone and let the dongle and the app talk for a bit. The captured log file was then filtered through WireShark, leaving behind a list of all the Bluetooth packets to and from the dongle’s address.
That’s when the fun began. Using a little wetware pattern recognition, [Mark] was able to figure out the basic structure of each frame. Knowing the voltage range of USB power delivery helped him find the bytes representing voltage and current, which allowed him to throw together a Python program to talk to the dongle in real-time and get the critical numbers.
It’s not likely that all BLE-connected devices will be as amenable to reverse engineering as this dongle was, but this is still a great technique to keep in mind. We’ve got a couple of applications for this in mind already, in fact. | 5 | 2 | [
{
"comment_id": "8062019",
"author": "Antron Argaiv",
"timestamp": "2024-11-14T21:06:47",
"content": "I had to debug a BLE link for work, and I found Wireshark and the Adafruit BLE Sniffer dongle (https://www.adafruit.com/product/2267) very useful in debugging the protocol between our device and the... | 1,760,371,730.338526 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/11/14/us-doe-sets-new-nuclear-energy-targets/ | US DOE Sets New Nuclear Energy Targets | Navarre Bartz | [
"News",
"Science"
] | [
"Advanced Nuclear Reactor",
"coal",
"electricity grid",
"electrification",
"energy transition",
"fission",
"fusion",
"micro nuclear reactor",
"nuclear",
"Small Modular Reactor"
] | To tackle the growing electrification of devices, we’ll need to deploy more generation to the grid. The US Department of Energy (DOE) has unveiled a new target to
triple nuclear generating capacity by 2050
.
Using a combination of existing
Generation III+
reactor designs, upcoming
small modular
and
micro reactors
, and “legislation like the
ADVANCE Act
that streamlines regulatory processes,” DOE plans to add 35 gigawatt (GW) of generating capacity by 2035 and an additional 15 GW installed per year by 2040 to hit a total capacity of 200 GW of clean, green atom power by 2050.
According to the DOE, 100 GW of nuclear power was deployed in the 1970s and 1980s, so this isn’t an entirely unprecedented scale up of nuclear, although it won’t happen overnight. One of the advantages of renewables over nuclear is the lower cost and better public perception — but a combination of technologies will create a more robust grid than an “all of your eggs in one basket” approach.
Vehicle to grid
storage,
geothermal
,
solar
,
wind
, and yes, nuclear will all have their place at the clean energy table.
If you want to know more about
siting nuclear on old coal plants
, we covered DOE’s report on the matter as well as some efforts to build a fusion reactor on a
decommissioned coal site
as well. | 63 | 8 | [
{
"comment_id": "8061987",
"author": "Dude",
"timestamp": "2024-11-14T20:13:29",
"content": "To contrast: 15 GW of nuclear operating at 95% availability factor means 57 GW of renewable power operating at an availability factor of 25%. (actual production compared to nominal or nameplate capacity)From... | 1,760,371,730.749502 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/11/14/microfluidic-motors-could-work-really-well-for-tiny-scale-tasks/ | Microfluidic Motors Could Work Really Well For Tiny Scale Tasks | Lewin Day | [
"Android Hacks",
"Hackaday Columns",
"Science",
"Slider"
] | [
"Fluid mechanics",
"microfluidics",
"microhydraulics",
"motor"
] | The vast majority of motors that we care about all stick to a theme. They rely on the electromagnetic dance between electrons and magnets to create motion. They come in all shapes and sizes and types, but fundamentally, they all rely on electromagnetic principles at heart.
And yet! This is not the only way to create a motor. Electrostatic motors exist, for example, only they’re not very good because electrostatic forces are so weak by comparison. Only, a game-changing motor technology might have found a way to leverage them for more performance. It achieves this by working with fluid physics on a very small scale.
Electrostatic Foibles
Electrostatic motors date back to the 18th century, having first been developed
by such luminaries as Andrew Gordon and Benjamin Franklin
. These motors relied upon electrostatic principles; Franklin’s version used brass thimbles on a wheel which were attracted towards charged electrodes hooked up to Leyden jars. This was enough to create some rotational motion.
Our understanding of electricity and physics have progressed a lot since then. However, as with
many electrostatic curios
, these motors proved very limited in their usefulness. They have struggled to find widespread application due to their reliance on high voltages to work, and the fact they produce precious little torque. The technique of creating motion via electrostatic attraction and repulsion has found some applicability at the very small scale with microelectromechanical devices (MEMS). For these chip-sized devices, the tiny scale involved reduces the voltages involved significantly, and at small scales, torque or force requirements are much lower. Still, the electrostatic motor has remained relatively obscure to this day.
New Approach
The devices don’t just use droplets for drive. The “rails” use large droplets to deliver power where it needs to go, too. Credit: research paper
There’s a way to get around these limitations, and it’s outlined in a
published in
Nature.
As the research outlines, there are already known ways to improve the performance of electrostatic motors. The paper cites low voltage operation, high torque, high efficiency, and the ability to scale up in thickness as desirable attributes; the latter in particular in reference to very thin MEMS motor designs. Low voltage operation can be achieved through the use of thin dielectric material in the electrostatic motor, while higher torque can be achieved by creating a motor with a very small stepping distance. Scaling in thickness is possible too, by using a layered motor design, and efficiency improvements are achievable by choosing a dielectric material with very low losses. The interesting thing this paper points out is that while these attributes have all been noted and explored individually, they haven’t been combined and leveraged in a single motor design.
The motors are a more advanced version of “electrowetting” actuators. These work by manipulating the surface tension of liquid droplets using an electric field—referred to as the
electrowetting effect
. That’s why they fall into the class of electrostatic motors. Basically, by creating electric fields with various electrodes, the droplets “wettability” on a surface can be affected, which can be exploited with multiple electrodes to move droplets around. The actuators themselves have droplets placed between surfaces with hydrophilic and hydrophobic regions, which attract and repel the droplets themselves. Thus, by moving the droplets in controlled fashion, the droplets can drag the surfaces around as they move, creating motion.
The magic is when you get more advanced and stack these things—hence, multilayer microhydraulic actuators. By stacking multiple layers, these actuators can offer high torque for their size without requiring high operating voltages, and they can move incredibly precisely. These actuators also achieve impressive power density, and their relative performance improves as they scale down to smaller sizes, too.
The structure is the key. Each polyimide layer of the actuator consists of an electrode array on one side and a droplet array on the other, and measures just 10 um thick. Individual layers are separated by fluid—droplets of water. Radially oriented droplets are distorted by the electrodes, which are covered in dielectric, and this drives the motion of the actuator. When an electric field is applied on one layer, they attract the droplets on a layer above, and as the droplets move, the drag the layer along. It’s not dissimilar to Franklin’s design from centuries ago, it’s just being done with different components on a different scale—and with many layers of droplets and electrode arrays stacked up for improved performance.
This diagram shows how the actuator can be configured for greater speed (top) or force output (bottom). The trick is how the layers move relative to each other—note the velocity vectors. Credit: Research paper
The layers can be configured to optimize for either speed or force, making the technology highly adaptable depending on the application. For instance, a five-layer actuator in “speed mode” could move each higher layer at a relative velocity to the one below it, with the effect stacking so the top layer is moving much faster than the bottom. Alternatively, when configured for force, each layer moves in the opposite direction relative to the one below it, significantly increasing the available force while maintaining a compact form factor. Alternatively, the same principles can be applied to create a linear actuator, too.
Multilayer microhydraulic actuators could be a game-changer for robotics, especially at small scales where conventional inductive motors fall short. The actuators’ ability to deliver high torque with precise control makes them ideal for use in micro-robotic systems, including robotic surgery, where dexterity, fine movement, and force are all vital.
Additionally, because these actuators don’t require external gearing to change their speed or force characteristics, they can be more compact and flexible for some applications than their inductive counterparts. This could open up new possibilities for responsive robotic joints, providing new levels of performance and finesse in fields like prosthetics.
Linear versions are possible, too. Credit: research paper
One of the most exciting aspects of this technology is how it scales. These multilayer microhydraulic actuators improve as they get smaller. Reducing the droplet pitch from 40 µm to 15 µm increases torque and power density by an order of magnitude, making these actuators a promising solution for future micro-scale applications. Basically, the smaller they go, the better they get.
While the potential is vast, the technology does face some challenges. The fluidic nature of the actuators introduces the need for precision fabrication to prevent issues like evaporation and contamination. Moreover, particles as small as 10 µm can affect performance, requiring careful handling and assembly in clean environments. These aren’t rough and tumble rugged motors—they’re precise and delicate machines. Neither are these particularly useful at large scales—don’t expect to see this technology running your drones or EV. That’s not really what it’s about. It’s more of a small scale thing.
Oh by the way they have insane acceleration. Full speed after the first step.
This is realtime! Cmonnnnn
pic.twitter.com/s607zPOwEN
— Nick Parker (@NickParkerPrint)
October 6, 2024
These actuators are being used in chip assembly work.
Multilayer microhydraulic actuators represent a significant leap forward in actuation technology, offering high torque, precision, and efficiency at low voltages. Their unique ability to scale down without losing performance makes them an attractive option for applications ranging from robotics to medical devices. As researchers continue to refine this technology, we may soon see these actuators powering the robots and machines of tomorrow. | 8 | 6 | [
{
"comment_id": "8061925",
"author": "The Commenter Formerly Known As Ren",
"timestamp": "2024-11-14T18:47:01",
"content": "I, for one, welcome our new microrobotic overlords!",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "8061970",
"author": "Truth"... | 1,760,371,730.802194 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/11/14/retrotechtacular-the-tv-bombs-of-wwii/ | Retrotechtacular: The TV Bombs Of WWII | Dan Maloney | [
"Retrotechtacular",
"Slider",
"Weapons Hacks"
] | [
"bomb",
"GB-4",
"glide bomb",
"guidance",
"guided",
"iconoscope",
"retrotechtacular",
"television",
"tv",
"wwii"
] | Anyone who was around for the various wars and conflicts of the early 2000s probably recalls the video clips showing guided bombs finding their targets. The black-and-white clips came from TV cameras mounted in the nose of the bomb, and were used by bombardiers to visually guide the warhead to the target — often providing for a level of precision amounting to a choice of “this window or that window?” It was scary stuff, especially when you thought about what was on the other side of the window.
Surprisingly, television-guide munitions aren’t exactly new, as
this video on TV-guided glide bombs in WWII
indicates. According to [WWII US Bombers], research on TV guidance by the US Army Air Force started in 1943, and consisted of a plywood airframe built around a standard 2000-pound class gravity bomb. The airframe had stubby wings for lift and steerable rudders and elevators for pitch and yaw control. Underneath the warhead was a boxy fairing containing a television camera based on
an iconoscope or image orthicon
, while all the radio gear rode behind the warhead in the empennage. A B-17 bomber could carry two GB-4s on external hardpoints, with a bulky TV receiver provided for the bombardier to watch the bomb’s terminal glide and make fine adjustments with a joystick.
In testing, the GB-4 performed remarkably well. In an era when a good bombardier was expected to drop a bomb in a circle with a radius of about 1,200′ (365 meters) from the aim point, GB-4 operators were hitting within 200′ (60 meters). With results like that, the USAAF had high hopes for the GB-4, and ordered it into production. Sadly, though, the testing results were not replicated in combat. The USAAF’s 388th Bomber Group dropped a total of six GB-4s against four targets in the European Theater in 1944 with terrible results. The main problem reported was not being able to see the target due to reception problems, leaving the bombardiers to fly blind. In other cases, the bomb’s camera returned a picture but the contrast in the picture was so poor that steering the weapon to the target was impossible. On one unfortunate attack on a steel factory in Duren, Germany, the only building with enough contrast to serve as an aiming point was a church six miles from the target.
The GB-4’s battlefield service was short and inglorious, with most of the 1,200 packages delivered never being used. TV-guided bombs would have to wait for another war, and ironically it would be the postwar boom in consumer electronics and the explosion of TV into popular culture would move the technology along enough to make it possible. | 41 | 6 | [
{
"comment_id": "8061877",
"author": "Joshua",
"timestamp": "2024-11-14T16:56:17",
"content": "“. The black-and-white clips came from TV cameras mounted in the nose of the bomb, and were used by bombardiers to visually guide the warhead to the target — often providing for a level of precision amount... | 1,760,371,730.894019 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/11/14/the-life-cycle-of-nuclear-fission-fuel-from-stars-to-burn-up/ | The Life Cycle Of Nuclear Fission Fuel: From Stars To Burn-Up | Maya Posch | [
"Featured",
"Science",
"Slider"
] | [
"nuclear fission",
"Nuclear Reactor",
"thorium",
"uranium"
] | Outdone only by nuclear fusion, the process of nuclear fission releases enormous amounts of energy. The ‘spicy rocks’ that are at the core of both natural and artificial fission reactors are generally composed of uranium-235 (U-235) along with other isotopes that may or may not play a role in the fission process. A very long time ago when the Earth was still very young, the ratio of fissile U-235 to fertile U-238 was sufficiently high that nuclear fission would spontaneously commence, as happened at what is now the
Oklo
region of Gabon.
Although natural decay of U-235 means that this is unlikely to happen again, we humans have learned to take uranium ore and start a controlled fission process in reactors, beginning in the 1940s. This can be done using natural uranium ore, or with enriched (i.e. higher U-235 levels) uranium. In a standard light-water reactor (LWR) a few percent of U-235 is used up this way, after which fission products, mostly minor actinides, begin to inhibit the fission process, and fresh fuel is inserted.
This spent fuel can then have these contaminants removed to create fresh fuel through reprocessing, but this is only one of the ways we have to extract most of the energy from uranium, thorium, and other actinides like plutonium. Although actinides like uranium and thorium are among the most abundant elements in the Earth’s crust and oceans, there are good reasons to not simply dig up fresh ore to refuel reactors with.
All About The Neutrons
A photo of yellow cake uranium, a solid form of uranium oxide produced from uranium ore. Yellow cake must be processed further before it is made into nuclear fuel. Courtesy of Energy Fuels Inc.
Forming nuclei as heavy as uranium requires something more than the standard nuclei-forming process (
s-process
) in the average star. An integral part of nuclear astrophysics, the s-process stands for ‘slow’ and refers to the rate of neutron capture of nuclei. Essentially it refers to the number of neutron captures that happen before nuclear decay can occur. The s-process is sufficient to create many of the elements we know from the periodic table heavier than iron (Fe) via various decay chains, with the remaining elements requiring the much higher neutron-density flux of the rapid, or
r-process
.
The difference between the s- and r-process is quite severe, with the s-process requiring seed nuclei from the proton, or p-process, while the r-process with many orders of magnitude higher neutron capture events can create its own own nuclei and from them the heavy elements such as the actinide series that include americium, plutonium, as well as a range of synthetic elements commonly referred to as the transuranium elements: the transuranics. Within an astrophysical context, however, neutron stars are
probably the biggest source
of these heavier elements.
Once this proverbial stardust has gone through planet formation, the first multicellular life can evolve into intelligent life over the course of a few million years. After this, said intelligent life can then proceed to dig up uranium ore for use in a nuclear fission reactor.
During the millions of years that humanity took to evolve to this point, however, the fissile U-235 has largely undergone decay already, while the fertile U-238 isotope, which can become fissile upon neutron capture, now makes up most of the uranium ore recovered today. This is why for certain types of fission reactors that use slow neutrons the uranium fuel is
‘enriched’
, meaning that the amount of U-235 in it is increased from the approximate natural 0.7% to 3 – 5% for use in LWRs.
After the optional enrichment step,
fuel fabrication
can commence. The typically ceramic fuel pellets are then inserted into a fission reactor and the U-235 is exposed to a neutron source that then kickstarts a nuclear chain reaction.
Reprocessing And Pyroprocessing
Schematic view of PWR fuel assembly (Credit: Mitsubishi Nuclear Fuel)
The exposure of fissile isotopes to neutrons results in rapid nuclear decay, along well-known decay chains into a range of different isotopes. Some of these are helpful – like fissile Pu-239 – but minor actinides, Pu-240 as well as other isotopes that are formed inside the ceramic LWR fuel pellets will interfere with the nuclear chain reaction, reducing its efficiency. After replacing such spent fuel with fresh fuel, the spent LWR fuel can then be processed in a number of ways to use up the remaining fissile isotopes, the primary ones being
reprocessing and pyroprocessing
.
Effectively, the spent LWR fuel isn’t so different from the uranium ore, with the isotopes being separated from the ceramic material rather than the minerals in uranium ore. This process can be performed in a few ways:
hydrometallurgy – dissolving into an aqueous solution, e.g. PUREX.
electrometallurg – using electric current.
pyrometallurgy – smelting the pellets to separate the metal from the mineral.
Of these hydrometallurgy is the oldest method, as well as the one most commonly used. France’s La Hague reprocessing plant processes about 1700 tons of spent fuel per year using the PUREX (plutonium-uranium-extraction) method which uses concentrated nitric acid to assist in separating the uranium and plutonium via solvent extraction steps along which various other isotopes (e.g. neptunium for Pu-238 production) can be separately recovered.
The remaining liquid after PUREX contains about 3% of the original used fuel material, which is generally disposed of as high-level waste with this reprocessing process. The recovered uranium and plutonium is then used together with fresh uranium to create a blend (mixed oxide, or MOX) fuel that can be used in LWRs again. There are a few variations on the basic PUREX process, but they all come with various trade-offs and the necessity for a long and tedious process.
This is where pressurized heavy water reactors (PHWRs) and fast neutron reactors (FNRs) can provide the missing link to fully close the uranium fuel cycle.
Fast Neutrons
Overview of the thermal energy transfer in the Natrium reactor design. (Source: TerraPower)
The PHWR reactor uses so-called ‘heavy water’ (deuterium), which unlike its lighter sibling does not moderate neutrons, thus allowing for a PHWR to also work with fast neutrons. Unlike the slower, thermal neutrons in water-moderated LWRs, this means that these reactors can also use much more of the fertile isotopes in the fuel. An interesting approach here is the direct use of spent LWR fuel in Canadian-designed CANDU PHWRs, called DUPIC. Normally CANDU reactors use either natural or only slightly enriched uranium fuel, using which they can achieve very high burn-up rates.
This DUPIC method does not require any reprocessing, but takes the ceramic fuel and merely puts it into fuel assemblies that work in the CANDU reactor. This and similar approaches are being trialed by South Korea, and China.
Effectively the use of PHWRs is similar to FNRs, which are a popular choice for
closing the uranium fuel cycle
, including the currently under construction
Natrium reactor by TerraPower
. By increasing the selection of available neutrons (thermal and fast), FNRs can effectively function as a breeder (turning fertile isotopes into fissile ones) while burning up all fissile isotopes. As this includes minor actinides and transuranics, this means that in an FNR theoretically every single last bit of radioactive fuel can be used, leaving no radioactive waste to handle. Through a constant process of neutron capture within the reactor, the isotopes will rush through their decay chains until finally reaching a state where their nuclear cross-spectrum no longer makes them viable nuclear fuel, or a radiological hazard.
So why is that we don’t fully burn up uranium fuel fully today, but instead usually use a once-through fuel cycle?
It’s The Economy, Silly
Schematic overview of dry cask storage of spent LWR fuel. (Credit: NRC)
One defining characteristic of nuclear fission plants is that the fuel costs end up being practically a rounding error over their operating life. This is defined both by the abundance of uranium ore and the relatively small amounts of it needed by an LWR’s roughly two-yearly refuel cycle. Although countries like France reprocess virtually all of their LWR fuel, this is more a part of their energy independence strategy, even if it has the benefit of minimizing the amount of nuclear waste. While the PUREX process results in high-level waste, this type of waste also decays very rapidly, reaching background levels within a matter of decades.
With the current resurgence in new nuclear construction, uranium commodity prices have also gone up, along with newly (re)opened uranium mines getting a lot of investor interest. Although uranium is incredibly abundant in the soil (with much more dissolved in the oceans), economics says that with more economical ways to close the uranium fuel cycle, reprocessing, reusing and burning up uranium fuel becomes the logical approach.
Before even tapping into fertile isotopes like thorium 232, the uranium we can extract today for energy production should be enough to last us many thousands of years. All because of the neutron flux in stars capturing all this energy, which is a process that continues to this day throughout the Universe.
Featured image: Solar flare on the Sun’s surface. (Credit:
NASA
) | 48 | 7 | [
{
"comment_id": "8061840",
"author": "Stephen",
"timestamp": "2024-11-14T15:19:12",
"content": "The idea of leaving rapidly decaying nuclear waste is an important advantage. I’m not superstitious about fission power, but having waste products that last 100,000 years is a serious problem – and as far... | 1,760,371,730.984913 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/11/14/smart-thermostats-pitched-for-texas-homes-to-relieve-stressed-grid/ | Smart Thermostats Pitched For Texas Homes To Relieve Stressed Grid | Maya Posch | [
"Current Events",
"home hacks"
] | [
"energy production",
"hvac",
"Texas",
"thermostat"
] | It’s not much of a secret that Texas’ nearly completely isolated grid is in a bit of a pickle, with generating capacity often being handily outstripped during periods of extreme demand. In a latest bid to fight this problem,
smart thermostats are being offered to customers
, who will then participate in peak-shaving. The partnership between NRG Energy Inc., Renew Home LLC, and Alphabet Inc. will see about 650,000 of these thermostats distributed to customers.
For customers the incentive would be mostly financial, though the details on the potential cost savings seem scarce. The thermostats would be either a
Vivint
(an NRG company) or Google Nest branded one, which would be controlled via Google Cloud, allowing for thermostat settings to be changed to reduce the load on the grid. This is expected to save ‘300 MW’ in the first two years, though it’s not clear whether this means ‘continuously’, or intermittent like with a peaker natural gas plant.
Demand curtailment is not a new thing, with it being a
big thing among commercial customers
in South Korea, as we discussed within the topic of vehicle-to-grid energy storage. Depending on how it is implemented it can make a big difference, but it’ll remain to see how regular consumers take to the idea. It also provides more evidence for reducing grid load being a lot easier than
adding grid-level storage
, which is becoming an increasingly dire topic as more non-dispatchable solar and wind power is added to the grid. | 86 | 27 | [
{
"comment_id": "8061783",
"author": "CRJEEA",
"timestamp": "2024-11-14T12:25:56",
"content": "It seems counterintuitive that plugging in tens or perhaps hundreds of thousands of additional devices could save energy. Personally I’m not sure I like the idea of giving a company that looks to save mone... | 1,760,371,731.265323 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/11/14/building-a-reproduction-apple-i/ | Building A Reproduction Apple I | Al Williams | [
"Retrocomputing"
] | [
"6502",
"apple",
"Apple I"
] | If you think of Apple today, you probably think of an iPhone or a Mac. But the original Apple I was a simple PC board and required a little effort to start up a working system.
[Artem] has an Apple I reproduction PCB
, and decided to
build it on camera so we could watch
.
For the Apple I, the user supplied a keyboard and some transformers, so [Artem] had to search for suitable components. He wisely checks the PCB to make sure there are no shorts in the traces. From there, you can watch him build the machine, but be warned: even with speed ups and editing, the video is over an hour long.
If you want to jump to the mostly working device, try around the 57-minute mark. The machine has a basic ROM monitor and, of course, needs a monitor. There was a small problem with memory, but he eventually worked it out by inhibiting some extra RAM on the board. Troubleshooting is half of the battle getting something like this.
Want to look inside the
clock generator chip
? Or skip the PCB and just use
an FPGA
. | 3 | 2 | [
{
"comment_id": "8065110",
"author": "clancydaenlightened",
"timestamp": "2024-11-22T19:58:11",
"content": "Back when apple products were actually quality and worth something unlike nowLast apple product I used was the iPod touch 4G and the A4 CPU after that I just used arm(android) and x86-64 (PC)M... | 1,760,371,731.026022 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/11/13/laser-sound-visualizations-are-not-hard-to-make/ | Laser Sound Visualizations Are Not Hard To Make | Lewin Day | [
"digital audio hacks",
"Laser Hacks"
] | [
"laser",
"music",
"visualiser",
"visualizer"
] | You might think that visualizing music with lasers would be a complicated and difficult affair. In fact, it’s remarkably simple if you want it to be, and
[byte_thrasher] shows us just how easy it can be.
At heart, what you’re trying to do is make a laser trace out waveforms of the music you’re listening to, right? So you just need a way to move the laser’s beam along with the sound waves from whatever you’re listening to. You might be thinking about putting a laser on the head of a servo-operated platform fed movement instructions from a digital music file, but you’d be way over-complicating things. You already have something that moves with the music you play — a speaker!
[byte_thrasher’s] concept is simple. Get a Bluetooth speaker, and stick it in a bowl. Cover the bowl with a flexible membrane, like plastic wrap. Stick a small piece of mirror on the plastic. When you play music with the speaker, the mirror will vibrate and move in turn. All you then have to do is aim a
safe
laser in a
safe
direction such that it bounces off the mirror and projects on to a surface. Then, the laser will dance with your tunes, and it’ll probably look pretty cool!
We’ve seen some beautiful laser visual effects before, too
. Just be careful and keep your power levels safe and your beams
pointing where they should be
.
put a bluetooth speaker in a bowl, cover the bowl with plastic wrap pulled taut, glue a shard of mirror to the plastic wrap, point a laser beam at the mirror so that it bounces off towards the ceiling, play music, enjoy
pic.twitter.com/Vs6lBJihCg
— avi (@byte_thrasher)
November 9, 2024 | 17 | 7 | [
{
"comment_id": "8061713",
"author": "fluffy",
"timestamp": "2024-11-14T08:19:22",
"content": "I remember this was all the rage back in the late 80s when HeNe lasers first started getting to be somewhat available. Every time there was a science demonstration showing off the power of lasers, somethin... | 1,760,371,731.321128 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/11/13/ai-face-anonymizer-masks-human-identity-in-images/ | AI Face Anonymizer Masks Human Identity In Images | Donald Papp | [
"Artificial Intelligence"
] | [
"ai",
"ai image generator",
"anonymity",
"anonymizer",
"diffusion model"
] | We’re all pretty familiar with AI’s ability to create realistic-looking images of people that don’t exist, but here’s an unusual implementation of using that technology for a different purpose:
masking people’s identity without altering the substance of the image itself
. The result is the photo’s content and “purpose” (for lack of a better term) of the image remains unchanged, while at the same time becoming impossible to identify the actual person in it. This invites some interesting privacy-related applications.
Originals on left, anonymized versions on the right. The substance of the images has not changed.
The paper for
Face Anonymization Made Simple
has all the details, but the method boils down to using diffusion models to take an input image, automatically pick out identity-related features, and alter them in a way that looks more or less natural. For this purpose, identity-related features essentially means key parts of a human face. Other elements of the photo (background, expression, pose, clothing) are left unchanged. As a concept it’s been explored before, but researchers show that this versatile method is both simpler and better-performing than others.
Diffusion models are the essence of AI image generators like
Stable Diffusion
. The fact that they can be run locally on personal hardware has opened the doors to all kinds of interesting experimentation, like
this haunted mirror
and other interactive experiments. Forget tweaking dull sliders like “brightness” and “contrast” for an image. How about altering the level of
“moss”, “fire”, or “cookie”
instead? | 44 | 20 | [
{
"comment_id": "8061655",
"author": "The Commenter Formerly Known As Ren",
"timestamp": "2024-11-14T03:11:04",
"content": "Is the photo on the left in the Title Photo “real”?The eyes creep me out, it made me think that was the AI altered photo.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies"... | 1,760,371,731.40678 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/11/13/open-cardiography-signal-measuring-device/ | Open Cardiography Signal Measuring Device | Navarre Bartz | [
"Medical Hacks"
] | [
"blood pressure",
"electrocardiogram",
"electrocardiography",
"pulse oximeter",
"Pulse oximetry",
"stethoscope"
] | Much of the world’s medical equipment is made by a handful of monopolistic megacorps, but [Milos Rasic] built an
open cardiography signal measuring device
for his master’s thesis.
Using a Pi Pico W for the brains, [Rasic]’s device can record, store and analyze the data from an arm cuff, stethoscope,
electrocardiograph
(ECG), and
pulse oximeter
. This data can be used for monitoring blood pressure in patients and he has results from some of his experiments to determine the optimal algorithm for the task on the GitHub if you really want to get into the nitty gritty details.
Inside the brick-sized enclosure is the custom PCB, an 18650 Li-ion cell, and a pneumatic assembly for the arm cuff. Medical sensors attach via GX12 connectors on the back, a USB type B connector is used for data, and a USB C connector provides power for the device. The brightly colored labels will no doubt come in handy in a clinical setting where you really want to be sure you’ve got everything plugged in correctly.
Want more open medical equipment? How about an
open ECG
or this less accurate, but more portable,
credit card ECG
? We’d be remiss not to mention the huge amount of work on
ventilators
during the worst days of the COVID-19 pandemic as well. | 10 | 4 | [
{
"comment_id": "8061627",
"author": "craig",
"timestamp": "2024-11-14T00:53:48",
"content": "This could be great for non-US use. In the US at least, the tech isn’t expensive because the tech is cutting edge, it is the approval and testing and certification that cost mega bux to get a device to mark... | 1,760,371,731.455171 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/11/13/landscape-motif-makes-this-e-ink-weather-display-easy-to-understand/ | Landscape Motif Makes This E-Ink Weather Display Easy To Understand | Dan Maloney | [
"home hacks"
] | [
"api",
"e-ink",
"e-paper",
"forecast",
"landscape",
"OpenWeather",
"waveshare",
"weather"
] | True weather geeks will disagree, but there might be a better way to know how to dress for the day than divining what the weather will likely be from the current readings for temperature, pressure, humidity, and wind. Sure, the data will give you a good idea of where the weather is heading, but perhaps a quick visual summary such as the one offered by
this pictorial landscape weather display
is a better way to get out the door in the morning.
While many consumer weather stations incorporate some kind of graphical forecast for quick reference, [lds133] took a slightly different approach to forecasting. A cartoon landscape represents the day ahead, with various elements representing the coming weather scrolling across the display as time progresses. Trees are used to indicate wind direction and speed, with palm trees indicating south wind and pine trees winds from the north, and the taller the trees, the stronger the wind. The forest floor rises and falls with the expected temperature, the sun and moon appear at the proper time to indicate sunrise and sunset, and cloud icons are added when needed to show the degree of cloud cover. And because into each life a little rain must fall, animations show when you can expect rain or snow.
As for the electronics, if you think this would be a perfect application for an E-ink module, [lds133] agrees. The 296×128 pixel Waveshare display is the perfect aspect ratio for the job and provides nice, crisp icons. The display is updated every 15 minutes from the OpenWeather API by a Python program running on an ESP32 behind the scenes.
We’ve seen
similar graphical forecast displays
before, but we get it if that’s not your thing. Perhaps a more
data-driven weather forecast
will suit you better? | 11 | 6 | [
{
"comment_id": "8061566",
"author": "Andrew",
"timestamp": "2024-11-13T21:22:04",
"content": "I guess this is why we invented writing.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "8061568",
"author": "The Commenter Formerly Known As Ren",
... | 1,760,371,731.507206 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/11/13/floss-weekly-episode-809-pi4j-stable-and-boring-on-the-raspberry-pi/ | FLOSS Weekly Episode 809: Pi4J – Stable And Boring On The Raspberry Pi | Jonathan Bennett | [
"Hackaday Columns",
"Podcasts",
"Slider"
] | [
"FLOSS Weekly",
"java",
"raspberry pi"
] | This week,
Jonathan Bennett
and David Ruggles chat with
Frank Delporte
about Pi4J, the friendly Java libraries for the Raspberry Pi, that expose GPIO, SPI, I2C and other IO interfaces. Why would anyone want to use Java for the Pi? And what’s changed since the project started? Listen to find out!
https://www.pi4j.com/
https://webtechie.be/
Did you know you can watch the live recording of the show Right on
our YouTube Channel
? Have someone you’d like us to interview? Let us know, or contact the guest and have them contact us!
Take a look at the schedule here
.
Direct Download
in DRM-free MP3.
If you’d rather read along,
here’s the transcript for this week’s episode
.
Places to follow the FLOSS Weekly Podcast:
Spotify
RSS | 0 | 0 | [] | 1,760,371,731.552713 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/11/13/making-sense-of-real-time-operating-systems-in-2024/ | Making Sense Of Real-Time Operating Systems In 2024 | Maya Posch | [
"Hackaday Columns",
"Slider",
"Software Development"
] | [
"FreeRTOS",
"RTOS"
] | The best part about real-time OS (RTOS) availability in 2024 is that we developers are positively spoiled for choice, but as a corollary this also makes it a complete pain to determine what the optimal choice for a project is. Beyond simply opting for a safe choice like FreeRTOS for an MCU project and figuring out any implications later during the development process, it can pay off massively to invest some time up-front matching the project requirements with the features offered by these various RTOSes. A few years ago I
wrote a primer
on the various levels of ‘real-time’ and whether you may even just want to forego an RTOS at all and use a simple Big Loop™ & interrupt-based design.
With such design parameters in mind, we can then look more clearly at the available RTOS options available today, which is the focus of this article. Obviously it won’t be an exhaustive comparison, and especially projects like FreeRTOS have seen themselves customized to various degrees by manufacturers like ST Microelectronics and Espressif, among others. This also brings to the forefront less pleasant considerations, such as expected support levels, as illustrated by e.g. Microsoft’s Azure RTOS (formerly ThreadX) recently
getting moved
to the Eclipse Foundation as the
Eclipse ThreadX
open source project. On one hand this could make it a solid open-source licensed RTOS, or it could have been open sourced because Microsoft has moved on to something else and cleared out its cupboard.
Thus without further ado, let’s have a look at RTOSes in 2024 and which ones are worth considering, in my opinion.
Answering Some Questions
A crucial distinction when looking at operating systems for embedded systems is the kind of platform it is. If it’s something along the lines of an x86, Cortex-A ARM or similar, you’re likely looking at a desktop-like system, where a real-time OS such as VxWorks, QNX, a BSD or Linux (with or without real-time patches) is probably the best choice, if only due to hardware support concerns. For situations where hard real-time considerations are the most essential, an FPGA/CPLD-based solution might instead be worth it, but this is of course less flexible than an MCU-based solution.
If at this point an MCU-based solution seems the most sensible one, the next logical question is ‘which one RTOS?’. The answer to this is hidden somewhere in long lists of RTOSes, such as the one found
over at Wikipedia
, or the one over at the
OSRTOS
website. Assuming for a moment that we are looking only at open source RTOSes here that are seeing active development, we can narrow it down somewhat to the following list:
Contiki-NG
OpenERIKA
FreeRTOS
MicroC/OS
(Micrium OS)
Nano-RK
(Atmel Firefly, MicaZ motes, MSP430; GPL or commercial)
NuttX
RIOT
Rodos
RT-Thread
TI-RTOS
TizenRT
(NuttX fork by Samsung)
Zephyr
(formerly Rocket)
ChibiOS/RT
Apache Mynewt
Of note is that the popular
Mbed
project was abandoned in July of 2024, rendering the future of this RTOS highly uncertain. Even with that one taken out of the picture, we are still left with an impressive list. Is NuttX better than ThreadX? What about Zephyr versus RIOT or ChibiOS/RT? Merely reading the bullet points for the features gets one only so far. Perhaps the most important questions here pertain to issues such as:
Build system requirements
Demands on a specific compiler (version)
Programming languages one can use with the OS
Whether direct hardware access to peripherals is allowed or require going through a HAL of some description.
Support availability when something inevitably doesn’t work as expected.
Accessibility of the source code when reading through it (readability, documentation, etc.)
Baseline Expectations
The baseline for the build environment demands and supported features is set here at FreeRTOS. It runs on a wide range of (MCU) platforms, provides a number of schedulers, SMP support, happily compiles with just about any compiler toolchain and is C-based so can be used with any programming language that can cooperate with C APIs. Direct hardware access is the standard way for peripherals and the OS generally gets out of your way beyond scheduling and multi-tasking matters. This ‘stay out of the way’ approach persists with developer tools and configuration, which works as easily in Vim as in any other editor.
ThreadX
As of writing the
documentation
is a stack of Markdown files on GitHub which are clearly not converted yet from their Azure OS era, and ‘getting started’ refers to connecting to the Microsoft Azure cloud. Building the library is apparently done using CMake, Ninja and the standard ARM GCC toolchain for ARM targets, but where’s a sample project and what about other MCU platforms?
After confusing myself clicking through the ‘documentation’ for a while, I’m sure that I would not pick this RTOS as I am spending far too much time even figuring out the basics.
Contiki-NG
Documentation
exists
and doesn’t look too bad, but you’re pushed right into using a Docker image for development. Fortunately native installation instructions are provided for Linux and MacOS, but not Windows. It’s clear that this RTOS is focused on Internet of Things projects, while the ability to easily run the code
as a native (Linux) process
is nifty.
Feels like this RTOS could be nice for network-related projects.
OpenERIKA
Confusing website and the impression is that it’s ‘free’, but do not expect any support unless you’re willing to pay for it. Hard pass.
MicroC/OS
I’m sure that Silicon Labs had good intentions with their
Micrium OS site
, but it’s too hard to find anything on it, never mind how to get started with the thing, plus it seems locked to Silabs devices. Ditto for the Weston-Embedded
website
. Hard pass.
RIOT
Seems to use basic tools and the standard platform toolchains per the ‘
getting started
‘ documentation. Build system is GNU Make-based, which is very flexible and should integrate with other build systems with little issue. Quite a lot of documentation to dig through, and might be worth scratching an itch with that FreeRTOS doesn’t cover?
NuttX, Zephyr, ChibiOS/RT
RTOSes which have lots of bullet points are kinda fancy, but demanding the use of KConfig with
NuttX
, the insistence on setting up a
special Python-based development
with Zephyr and the seemingly hard requirement to
use the special IDE
with ChibiOS/RT all makes for problematic choices that will make developing with these either impossible — KConfig on Windows — or integrating with other build systems impossible to tedious.
While I’m not a Python hater, my experiences with Python-based build environments and tools are very negative, and I’d rather avoid such unnecessary dependencies in a development workflow. If you’re a Python fan, you might want to look more seriously at Zephyr.
With that said, the remaining RTOSes in the list are fairly small and can probably be skipped safely.
FreeRTOS
Back in my
original 2021 article
I covered getting started with FreeRTOS, which at the time was focused mostly on STM32 and similar ARM-based MCUs. Since then I have extensively expanded my use of FreeRTOS in the form of Espressif ESP32 development, both on the base ESP32 MCU and the ESP32-S3. This provided a range of interesting perspectives, also since I was porting significant amounts of cross-platform C and C++ code to these MCUs.
An important aspect of FreeRTOS is that it is commonly included in MCU SDKs, as is the case
with Espressif’s ESP-IDF
. It supports three different versions of FreeRTOS: the single-core ‘vanilla’ FreeRTOS, the Espressif (SMP) version and Amazon’s SMP FreeRTOS. Espressif’s version is optimized for the dual-core design of the ESP32 and ESP32-S3 and the default choice. What this demonstrates clearly is that the strength of FreeRTOS lies in its flexibility. You can slot in any custom scheduler, heap allocation algorithm, and pile on additions that are optimized for the target platform.
ESP-IDF provides partial
POSIX compatibility
, which uses FreeRTOS primitives internally. In order to port projects based on the cross-platform
PoCo
libraries, I added FreeRTOS support to these in the compatible
NPoCo
project. With this approach I can use virtually all of the features provided by the PoCo libraries also with (ESP-IDF) FreeRTOS, while allowing for the exact same code to compile on desktop platforms. The only platform-specific elements (e.g. start-up and peripheral use) are handled by compile-time preprocessor inclusions.
Drawing Conclusions
Although there are many ways to go about developing a project and advocating a particular approach is the best way to end up forever shunned by friends & colleagues, looking at a different approach can be enlightening. Over my own career I have gravitated strongly towards simplicity and reducing potential pain points. A big part of this is finding the optimal ways to do as little work as possible, which is where my own approach to MCU-based RTOSes comes from. I really don’t want to write more code than absolutely necessary, also because new code has new bugs.
As software is incredibly flexible, the real value in an (RT)OS lies in the scheduler, heap allocator and similar elements which provide the primitives on which other features can be built. While many RTOSes seem to go out of their way to (incompatibly) replicate the scope of the entire Linux kernel space & userspace in miniature, this to me at least seems restrictive. What I personally appreciate in FreeRTOS is that you can have as much or as little FreeRTOS in your code as you want, making it extremely hackable.
For others their priorities may be completely different, in which case any of the other RTOSes may work better, which is also perfectly fine. As long as the project is completed on time, within budget and no keyboards were thrown through the room, there are no wrong choices. | 52 | 28 | [
{
"comment_id": "8061494",
"author": "WereCatf",
"timestamp": "2024-11-13T18:22:06",
"content": "I like FreeRTOS so far: it provides all the features I want without a lot of extra bloat and it’s easy to use, since it only requires a few clicks to set up with the STM32 SDK and it’s already baked into... | 1,760,371,731.648444 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/11/13/a-vintage-radiator-core-from-scratch/ | A Vintage Radiator Core, From Scratch | Jenny List | [
"Tool Hacks",
"Transportation Hacks"
] | [
"die",
"mandrel",
"radiator",
"tube pulling"
] | There are sadly few 1914 Dennis fire engines still on the road, so when the one owned by Imperial College in London needs a spare part, it can not be ordered from the motor factors and must be made from scratch. Happily, [Andy Pugh] is an alumnus with the required metalworking skills, so in the video below
we see him tackling the manufacture of flattened brass tubes for its radiator core
.
Forming a round tube to a particular shape is done by pulling it through a die whose profile gradually changes from round to the desired shape. We see him make a couple of tries at this, finally succeeding with one carefully designed to have a constant circumference. The use of CNC machining is something that wouldn’t have been available in the Dennis works in the early 20th century, so we can marvel at the skills of the machinists back then who made the original. Here in 2024 he makes a drawing rig with a geared chain drive suitable for larger scale production.
The video is both a fascinating look at tube drawing and a mind-cleansing piece of workshop observation, and we have to say we enjoyed watching it. If [Andy]’s name sounds familiar to you, this might be because
this isn’t the first go he’s had at manufacturing vehicle parts
. | 25 | 11 | [
{
"comment_id": "8061476",
"author": "Observer",
"timestamp": "2024-11-13T17:55:56",
"content": "Wonderful piece of tooling; cool project, fun video to watch. If Andy Pugh reads Hackaday, a couple of thoughts/suggestions:The draw at the end of the video made some noises that concerned me. Brass can ... | 1,760,371,731.854286 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/11/13/a-teletype-by-any-other-name-the-early-e-mail-and-wordprocessor/ | A Teletype By Any Other Name: The Early E-mail And Wordprocessor | Al Williams | [
"Featured",
"History",
"Original Art",
"Retrocomputing",
"Slider"
] | [
"paper tape",
"teleprinter",
"teletype"
] | Some brand names become the
de facto
name for the generic product. Xerox, for example. Or
Velcro
. Teletype was a trademark, but it has come to mean just about any teleprinter communicating with another teleprinter or a computer. The actual trademark belonged to The Teletype Corporation, part of Western Electric, which was, of course, part of AT&T. But there were many other companies that made teleprinters, some of which were very influential.
The teleprinter predates the computer by quite a bit. The original impetus for their development was to reduce the need for skilled telegraph operators. In addition, they found use as crude wordprocessors, although that term wouldn’t be used for quite some time.
Telegraph
An 1855 keyboard telegraph (public domain).
Early communication was done by making and breaking a circuit at one station to signal a buzzer or other device at a distant station. Using dots and dashes, you could efficiently send messages, but only if you were proficient at sending and receiving Morse code. Sometimes, instead of a buzzer, the receiving device would make marks on a paper — sort of like a strip recorder.
In the mid-1800s, several attempts were made to make machines that could print characters remotely. There were various schemes, but the general idea was to move a print head remotely and strike it against carbon paper to leave a letter on a blank page.
By 1874, the Frenchman Èmile Baudot created a 5-bit code to represent characters over a teleprinter line. Like some earlier systems, the code used two shift characters to select uppercase letters (LTRS) and figures (FIGS). This lets the 32 possible codes represent 26 letters, 10 digits, and a few punctuation marks. However, if the receiver missed a shift character, the message would garble badly. This was especially a problem over radio links.
Paper Tape
Donald Murray made a big improvement in 1901. Instead of directly sending characters from a keyboard to the wire, his apparatus let the operator punch a paper tape. Then a machine used the paper tape to send characters to the remote station which would punch an identical tape. That tape could go through another machine to print out the text on it. Murray rearranged the Baudot code slightly, adding things we use today, like the carriage return and the line feed.
The problem that remained was keeping the two ends of the circuit in sync. An engineer working for the Morton Salt Company solved that problem, which Edward Kleinschmidt independently improved. The basic idea had been around for a while — using a start pulse to kick off each character — but these two patents around 1919 made it work.
Patents
Instead of fighting a big patent war, the two companies, Morkrum (partly owned by the owner of Morton Salt) and Klienschmitt, merged in 1924 and produced an even better machine. This was the birth of the modern teleprinter. In fact, the company that was formed from this merger would eventually become The Teletype Corporation and was bought by AT&T in 1930 for $30 million in stock.
Some early teleprinters were page printers that typed on the page like a typewriter. Others were tape printers that spit out a tape with letters on it. Often, the tape had a gummed back so the operator could cut it into strips and stick it to a telegram form, something you may have seen in old movies.
In addition to public telegrams, there were networks of commercial stations known as Telex and TWX — precursors to modern e-mail. These networks were like a phone system for teleprinters. You’d dial a Telex number and send a message to that machine. Many teleprinters had an internal wheel that a technician could set (by breaking off tabs) to send a WRU code (who are you) in response to a query. So connecting to the Hackaday Telex and sending WRU might reply “HACKDAY.” In addition, you could ring a bell on the remote machine. So a single bell might be a normal message, but ten bells might indicate an urgent message.
Word Processing
While replacing telegraphs was an obvious use of teleprinter technology, you might wonder how people could use these as crude word processors. The key was the paper tape and a simple paper tape trick. A Baudot machine would have five possible punches on one row of the tape. You can think of it as a binary number from 00000 (no punch) to 11111 (all positions punched out). The trick is that if all positions are punched out, the reader would ignore that position and move on to the next character. They also usually had a code that would stop the reading process.
This allowed you to do a few things. First, you could punch a tape and then make many copies of the same document. If you made a mistake, you could overpunch the tape to remove any unpunched holes and “delete” characters. It was also common to use several fully punched-out characters as a leader or a trailer, which allowed you to line up two tapes and paste them together.
So, to insert something, you could identify about a dozen characters around the insert and over-punch them. Then, you’d prepare another tape that had the new text, including the characters you punched over. You’d start that tape with a leader and end it with a trailer of fully punched positions. Then, you can cut the old tape and splice the new tape’s leader and trailer over the parts you punched out in the first step. A lot of work? Yes, but it’s way better than retyping everything by hand.
Once you create your master tape, you could turn out many originals. You could even do a sort of mail merge. Suppose I have a form letter reminding you to pay your bill. The master tape would have a pause in key places. So, the operator would do something like type the date, name, and address. Then, they would press start. The tape would type “Dear ” and then read a stop code. The operator could type the name and press start again. Now, the tape would run up until a later point, and another stop code would let the operator enter the account number and press start again. The next stop might be for the balance due, and a final stop for the due date. Pretty revolutionary for the 1940s.
Really high-tech installations used two tapes, one loop with the form letter and another unlooped tape with the input data. The operator did almost nothing, and all the letters were printed automatically.
An ASR-33 (
CC-BY-SA-3.0
by [ArnoldReinhold])
Of course, not all teleprinters were used like this. Many teletypes had letters in their name to indicate their configuration. An RO, for example, had no keyboard or paper tape. KSR teletypes (e.g., KSR 28) had keyboards and no tape equipment. An ASR (like an ASR 33) had both keyboards and a paper tape reader and writer). These ASR 33s were especially popular as I/O devices for early microcomputers. Teleprinters were also used on many early computers. Both the Harvard Mark I and the MIT Whirlwind I used Friden Flexowriters, a teleprinter made by Friden, a company eventually acquired by the Singer sewing machine company.
Flexowriters were known to be used to generate form letters for both the White House and the United States Congress. Combined with an autopen, the system could create letters that people would perceive as hand-typed and signed, even though they were really automatically generated. You can see a Flexowriter in action in the video below.
Handwriting Computer
Another trick was to take a tape with a header and a trailer and paste them together to form a loop. Then the printer would just print the same thing over and over. I saw a particularly odd use of this back in the 1970s.
I was in a mall. There was a booth there purporting to have a handwriting analysis computer. I wasn’t willing to spend $2 on an obvious scam, but I hovered around, trying to understand how it worked. It was oddly familiar, but I couldn’t place it. The machine was very large and had many blinking lights and spinning disks. It looked like a prop from a very cheap 1950s science fiction movie.
People would pay their money and write something on a piece of blank paper. The clerk would take that paper and place it in a slot. With the press of a button, the machine would suck the paper in and spit it out with some fortune cookie message towards the bottom of the page. It might say, “You are stronger than people realize.”
The bulk of a Flexowriter like this one was hidden under the “computer” (CC-
BY-SA-3.0
by [Godfrey Manning])
After a half hour, I remembered where I recognized the machine from. The big box was, of course, a fraud. But it was hiding something and the only part of that something visible was a row of brown buttons. Those brown buttons belonged to a Friden Flexowriter. You can see the brown buttons near the top of the unit in the picture.
Once I realized that was the “brain” of the device, it was obvious how it worked. Hidden inside was the paper tape reader. It had a loop of tape containing some line feeds, a fortune, more line feeds, and a stop code. The whole loop might have had a dozen or so fortune cookies, each with a stop code at the end of each.
When you put the paper in the slot, it really went around the teleprinter’s platen. You press the start tape button, and the line feeds suck up the paper and advance past the writing. Then, the fortune types out on the page. The final line feeds eject the page, and then it stops, ready for the next fortune. Pretty clever, although totally fraudulent.
Death of the Teleprinter
Teleprinters couldn’t survive the “glass teletype” revolution. CRT-based terminals swept away the machines from most applications. Real wordprocessors and magnetic media wiped out the applications in wordprocessing and typesetting.
Companies like Teletype, Olivetti, and Siemens (disclosure: Hackaday is part of Supply Frame, which is part of Siemens) stopped making teleprinters֫. In today’s world, these seem impossibly old-fashioned. But in 1932, they were revolutionary, as seen in the video below.
If you noticed the similarity between most modern teleprinters and electric typewriters,
you aren’t wrong
. Linux will still let you log in using
a hardcopy terminal
. | 40 | 17 | [
{
"comment_id": "8061420",
"author": "Andy M",
"timestamp": "2024-11-13T15:08:32",
"content": "Teletype machines hasn’t completely died out. The telecommunication device for the deaf (TDD) continued to use the Baudot system, shift garbling and all.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"repli... | 1,760,371,731.736528 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/11/13/nasa-announces-new-trials-for-in-space-laser-welding/ | NASA Announces New Trials For In-Space Laser Welding | Maya Posch | [
"Space"
] | [
"electron beam welding",
"laser welding"
] | In-space manufacturing is a big challenge, even with many of the same manufacturing methods being available as on the ground. These methods include rivets, bolts, but also welding, the latter of which was first attempted fifty years ago by Soviet cosmonauts. In-space welding is the subject of a
recently announced NASA collaboration
. The main aspects to investigate are the effects of reduced gravity and varying amounts of atmosphere on welds.
The Soviets took the lead in space welding when they first performed the feat during the
Soyuz-6 mission in 1969
. NASA conducted their own welding experiments aboard Skylab in 1973, and in 1984, the first (and last) welds were made in open space during an EVA on the Salyut-7 mission. This time around, NASA wants to investigate fiber laser-based welding, as
laid out in these presentation slides
. The first set of tests during parabolic flight maneuvers were performed in August of 2024 already, with further testing in space to follow.
Back in 1996 NASA collaborated with the E.O. Paton Welding Institute in Kyiv, Ukraine, on in-space welding as part of
the ISWE project
which would have been tested on the
Mir
space station, but manifesting issues ended up killing this project. Most recently
ESA has tested in-space welding
using the same electron-beam welding (EBW) approach used by the 1969 Soyuz-6 experiment. Electron beam welding has the advantage of providing great control over the weld in a high-vacuum environment such as found in space.
So why use laser beam welding (LBW) rather than EBW? EBW obviously doesn’t work too well when there is some level of atmosphere, is more limited with materials and has as only major advantage that it uses less power than LBW. As these LBW trials move to space, they may offer new ways to create structure and habitats not only in space, but also on the lunar and Martian surface.
Featured image: comparing laser beam welding with electron beam welding in space. (Source:
E. Choi et al.
, OSU, NASA) | 20 | 5 | [
{
"comment_id": "8061382",
"author": "Mystick",
"timestamp": "2024-11-13T12:18:46",
"content": "I would be really concerned with spalling. Also, heat dissipation in space is a whole different animal – no air or welding gases to channel heat away… it’s all “black body”, relatively fixed. And although... | 1,760,371,731.793322 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/11/13/intuition-about-maxwells-equations/ | Intuition About Maxwell’s Equations | Al Williams | [
"Science"
] | [
"maxwell's equations",
"physics"
] | You don’t have to know how a car engine works to drive a car — but you can bet all the drivers in the Indy 500 have a better than average understanding of what’s going on under the hood. All of our understanding of electronics hinges on Maxwell’s equations, but not many people know them. Even fewer
have an intuitive feel for the equations
, and [Ali] wants to help you with that. Of course, Maxwell’s gets into some hairy math, but [Ali] covers each law in a very pragmatic way, as you can see in the video below.
While the video explains the math simply, you’ll get more out of it if you understand vectors and derivatives. But even if you don’t, the explanations provide a lot of practical understanding
Understanding the divergence and curl operators is one key to Maxwell’s equations. While this video does give a quick explanation, [3Blue1Brown] has a
very detailed video
on just that topic. It also touches on Maxwell’s equations if you want some reinforcement and pretty graphics.
Maxwell’s equations can be
very artistic
. This is one of those topics where math, science, art, and
history
all blend together. | 13 | 8 | [
{
"comment_id": "8061362",
"author": "loonquawl",
"timestamp": "2024-11-13T10:02:55",
"content": "“f(x)=x” wat.“it’s plus, so like an OR-gate” df?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "8061463",
"author": "ccxxiii",
"timestamp": "202... | 1,760,371,732.215262 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/11/12/remember-the-tri-format-floppy-disk/ | Remember The Tri-Format Floppy Disk? | Lewin Day | [
"Retrocomputing"
] | [
"amiga",
"atari st",
"disk",
"floppy disk",
"pc",
"PC format"
] | These days, the vast majority of portable media users are storing their files on some kind of Microsoft-developed file system. Back in the 1980s and 1990s, though, things were different. You absolutely could not expect a floppy disk from one type of computer to work in another.
That is, unless you had a magical three-format disk, as [RobSmithDev] explains.
The tri-format disk was a special thing. It was capable of storing data in Amiga, PC, and Atari ST formats. This was of benefit for cover disks—a magazine could put out content for users across all three brands, rather than having to ship multiple disks to suit different machines.
[RobSmithDev] started investigating by reading the tri-format disk
with his DiskFlashback tool.
The tool found two separate filesystems. The Amiga filesystem took up 282 KB of space. The second filesystem contained two folders—one labelled PC, the other labelled ST. The Atari ST folder contained 145KB of data, while the PC folder used 248 KB. From there, we get a breakdown on how the data for each format is spread across the disk, right down to the physical location of the data. The different disk formats of each system allowed data to be scattered across the disk such that each type of computer would find its relevant data where it expected it to be.
It’s a complex bit of disk engineering that allowed this trick to work, and [Rob] explains it in great detail.
We love nitty gritty storage hacks around here.
Video after the break.
[Thanks to Mathieuseo for sending this in!] | 18 | 8 | [
{
"comment_id": "8061323",
"author": "Sjaak",
"timestamp": "2024-11-13T07:14:05",
"content": "Would be fun if you could write your own double format disk. (I’ve looked at the video and it seems that the DOS and ST use the same FAT12 portion of the disk. The format is better then the previous he feat... | 1,760,371,732.353485 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/11/12/the-end-of-ondsel-and-reflecting-on-the-commercial-prospects-for-freecad/ | The End Of Ondsel And Reflecting On The Commercial Prospects For FreeCAD | Maya Posch | [
"Software Development"
] | [
"freecad",
"Ondsel"
] | Within the world of CAD there are the well-known and more niche big commercial players and there are projects like FreeCAD that seek to bring a OSS solution to the CAD world. As with other OSS projects like the GIMP, these OSS takes on commercial software do not always follow established user interactions (UX), which is where Ondsel sought to bridge the gap by giving commercial CAD users a more accessible FreeCAD experience. This effort is now however at an end, with a blog post by Ondsel core team member
[Brad Collette] providing the details.
The idea of commercializing OSS is by no means novel, as this is what Red Hat and many others have done for decades now. In our article on
FOSS development bounties
we touched upon the different funding models for FOSS projects, with the Linux kernel enjoying strong commercial support. The trick is of course to attract such commercial support and associated funding, which is where the development on the UI/UX and feature set of the core FreeCAD code base was key. Unfortunately the business case was not strong enough to attract such commercial partners and Ondsel has been shutdown.
As also
discussed on the FreeCAD forum
, the Ondsel codebase will likely be at least partially merged into the FreeCAD code, ending for now the prospect of FreeCAD playing in the big leagues with the likes of AutoCAD.
Thanks to [Brian Harrington] for the tip. | 106 | 19 | [
{
"comment_id": "8061287",
"author": "Ccecil",
"timestamp": "2024-11-13T03:19:12",
"content": "Been using the 1.0 release of FreeCAD for a bit now. It seems significantly more functional and much closer to commercial offerings.I am confident moving forward I likely will be happy just using freecad.... | 1,760,371,732.537614 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/11/12/wav2vgm-plays-audio-via-opl3-synthesis/ | WAV2VGM Plays Audio Via OPL3 Synthesis | Lewin Day | [
"News"
] | [
"opl3",
"sound card",
"sound chip",
"VGM"
] | Once upon a time, computers didn’t really have enough resources to play back high-quality audio. It took too much RAM and too many CPU cycles and it was just altogether too difficult. Instead, they relied upon synthesizing audio from basic instructions to make sounds and music.
[caiannello] has taken advantage of this with the WAV2VGM project.
The basic concept is straightforward enough—you put a WAV audio file into the tool, and it spits out synthesis instructions for the classic OPL3 sound card. The Python script only works with 16-bit mono WAV files with a 44,100 Hz sample rate.
Amazingly,
check the samples
, and you’ll find the output is pretty recognizable. You can take a song with lyrics (like
Still Alive
from
Portal),
turn it into instructions for an OPL3, and it’s pretty intelligible. It sounds… glitchy and damaged, but it’s absolutely understandable.
It’s a fun little retro project that, admittedly, doesn’t have a lot of real applications. Still, if you’re
making a
Portal
clone for an ancient machine
with an OPL3 compatible sound chip, maybe this is the best way to do the theme song? If you’re working on exactly that, by some strange coincidence, be sure to
let us know
when you’re done! | 9 | 4 | [
{
"comment_id": "8061288",
"author": "Steven Clark",
"timestamp": "2024-11-13T03:21:17",
"content": "If I’m reading this right, the current code is just doing additive synthesis (explains why it’s using an OPL3). I wonder how well it could do if it had 2 a library of 2 or 4 operator options to fit ... | 1,760,371,732.398963 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/11/12/teaching-computers-to-read-sort-of/ | Teaching Computers To Read — Sort Of | Al Williams | [
"Retrocomputing"
] | [
"barcode",
"byte magazine",
"cauzin"
] | If you ask someone who grew up in the late 1970s or early 1980s what taught them a lot about programming, they’d probably tell you that typing in programs from magazines was very instructive. However, it was also very boring and error-prone. In fact, we’d say it was less instructional to do the typing than it was to do the debugging required to find all your mistakes. Magazines hated that and, as [Tech Tangents] shows us in a recent video, there were efforts to make devices that could
scan barcodes from magazines or books
to save readers from typing in the latest Star Trek game or Tiny Basic compiler.
The Cauzin Softstrip was a simple scanner that could read barcodes from a magazine or your printer if you wanted to do backups. As [Tech Tangents] points out, you may not have heard of it, but at the time, it seemed to be the future of software distribution.
We were impressed that [Tech Tangent] had enough old magazines that he had some of the original strips. Byte Magazine had tried to promote a similar format, but there was no hardware made to read those barcodes.
Of course, there were other systems. For example, the HP-41C famously had a barcode scanner, although creating your own was clunky unless you reverse-engineered the “proper” format (which was done). The basic hardware used there also worked with Byte’s format, but you still had to interface the odd scanner to your computer.
Cauzin sidestepped all this with their product, which was simple-to-interface hardware with software support for the major platforms. However, by the time it was on the market, cheap magnetic media and modem-based bulletin boards were destroying interest in loading software from paper.
This is a great look at an almost forgotten technology. You could probably build something modern to scan these if you had the urge. These days, it would be easy enough to design your own system. Modern laser printers would probably make very dense barcodes.
We wouldn’t suggest making a
Cauzin guitar
, though. These days we have
QR codes
and even
colorful barcodes
. | 8 | 4 | [
{
"comment_id": "8061216",
"author": "Erik",
"timestamp": "2024-11-12T22:13:43",
"content": "The HaD article about twibright optar seems like a good additional link for the end of the article.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "8061247",
"autho... | 1,760,371,732.087126 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/11/12/a-brief-history-of-cyrix-or-how-to-get-sued-by-intel-a-lot/ | A Brief History Of Cyrix, Or How To Get Sued By Intel A Lot | Maya Posch | [
"Retrocomputing"
] | [
"Cyrix"
] | In a new installment on computer history,
[Bradford Morgan White] takes us through the sordid history of Cyrix
, as this plucky little company created the best math co-processors (FasMath) and then a range of interesting x86-compatible CPUs that would give competing x86 CPUs a run for their money. Even though Cyrix played by the rules of licensing agreements, Intel would keep suing Cyrix repeatedly since the 1980s well into 1990s, for a total of seventeen times until Cyrix counter-sued for patent violations in May of 1997.
This case was settled between Cyrix and Intel, with a cross-licensing agreement established. Unfortunately these mounting legal costs and the stresses of keeping up with the competition (i.e. Intel) was proving too much and Cyrix was sold off to National Semiconductor, who wasn’t enthusiastic about competing with Intel. After this Cyrix got split up into Geode (sold to AMD) and Cyrix Technologies (sold to VIA). Interestingly, VIA’s x86 patent licenses and patents ended up being the foundation of
Zhaoxin
: a joint venture between VIA and Shanghai’s government which produces x86 CPUs for primarily the Chinese market.
We looked at the
Cyrix Cx486DLC processor a while ago
, and why their 386 upgrade options were perhaps not that great. Their later CPUs have however left a strong legacy that seems to endure in some way to this day. | 29 | 13 | [
{
"comment_id": "8061156",
"author": "DerAxeman",
"timestamp": "2024-11-12T20:10:00",
"content": "Weitek math coprocessors were the fastesthttps://www.cpu-world.com/CPUs/3167/index.html",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "8061180",
"author... | 1,760,371,732.161865 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/11/12/retrotechtacular-color-tv/ | Retrotechtacular: Color TV | Al Williams | [
"History",
"Retrotechtacular",
"Slider"
] | [
"cathode ray tube",
"Color TV"
] | We have often wondered if people dreamed in black and white before the advent of photography. While color pictures eventually became the norm, black and white TV was common for many years. After all, a TV set was a big investment, so people didn’t run out and buy the latest TV every year. Even if you did buy a new or used TV, a black and white model was much less expensive and, for many years, some shows were in black and white anyway. RCA, of course, wanted you to buy a color set. [PeriscopeFilm] has
a 1963 promotional film
from RCA extolling the virtues of a color set. The video also shows something about how the sets were made, as you can see below.
We aren’t sure we’d have led with the idea that color could save your life in this context, but we have to salute the melodrama. There is a good bit of footage of picture tube manufacturing, although the technical detail is — understandably — aimed at the general public.
You do get a look at the shadow mask and piles of colored phosphor. The manufacturing process seems oddly manual, although there is some automation involved. If you ever wondered how each little dot of phosphor gets placed precisely, the film answers that question.
The spectrometers the operators use in the electron gun build lack computer interfaces, so they have many discrete controls. We wondered if a modern assembly line could have that open flame, too.
It is amazing to think how many of these tubes were built worldwide in, say, the 1970s. Our guess is there are very few CRTs made today, although surely
someone somewhere
is turning out a few for some reason. We wonder how today’s factory compares to the one in the film.
RCA
was a pioneer
in bringing color TV to the United States and the world. Who remembers
degaussing
a color TV?
Featured image: “
Tricolour television close up
” by [Martin Howard]. | 20 | 9 | [
{
"comment_id": "8061124",
"author": "Dave",
"timestamp": "2024-11-12T18:30:46",
"content": "i still have a degaussing coil floating around somewhere :-)",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "8061154",
"author": "The Commenter Formerly Known... | 1,760,371,732.649086 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/11/12/you-wouldnt-download-a-chair-but-you-could/ | You Wouldn’t Download A Chair…But You Could | Lewin Day | [
"3d Printer hacks"
] | [
"3d printed furniture",
"chair",
"furniture"
] | [Morley Kert] had a problem. He’s a big fan of the lovely Fortune Chair from Heller Furniture. Only, he didn’t want to pay $1,175 for a real one. The solution?
He printed his own instead!
The basic concept is simple. Capture or recreate the geometry of the fancy expensive designer chair, and then print it out on a 3D printer. That
would
be easy, except for scale. Chairs have to be both big enough to seat humans, and strong enough to carry their weight. For the average 3D printer owner, meeting the
big
requirement is difficult, since most printers are quite small compared to chairs.
[Morley] gets around this in the typical fashion—he prints the chair in multiple segments. Indeed, we’ve seen [Morley] tackle
a similar project before, too.
Only, last time, he had the benefit of a print farm and some easily-accessible geometry for the target object. This time, he’s working very much more from scratch, and chose to print everything at home. That made things quite a bit harder.
Scaling up is never as easy at it seems at first
! | 16 | 5 | [
{
"comment_id": "8061085",
"author": "m1ke",
"timestamp": "2024-11-12T17:15:08",
"content": "Fun video! I probably would have never seen or heard of these chairs if it weren’t for his videos about recreating them.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": ... | 1,760,371,732.593617 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/11/12/ubiquitous-successful-bus-version-3/ | Ubiquitous Successful Bus: Version 3 | Arya Voronova | [
"Featured",
"Skills",
"Slider"
] | [] | USB 2 is the USB we all know and love. But about ten years ago, USB got an upgrade: USB 3.0. And it’s a lot faster. It started off ten times the speed of USB 2, with 5 Gbps, and later got 20 Gbps and 40 Gbps revisions. How does that work, and how do you hack on it? Well, for a start, it’s very different from USB 2, and the hacking differs in many important ways.
In fact, USB 3 is an entirely separate interface from USB 2, and it does not depend on USB 2 in any way whatsoever – some people think that USB 3 negotiation happens through USB 2, but that’s a complete myth. USB 2 and USB 3 are electrically, physically, and logically distinct interfaces. Except for the fact that USB 3 is backwards compatible with USB 2, they are simply entirely different.
This also means that every USB-A port with USB 3 capabilities (typically blue, but not always) carries two interfaces; indeed, if you want, you can split a typical USB 3 port into a USB 3-only USB-A port and a USB 2-only USB-A port. USB 3-only ports are not legal per USB 3 standard, you’re expected to keep USB 2 there, but only for user convenience; you can split it with a hub and get, like, three extra USB 2 branches for your own use. Even if it’s forbidden, it works flawlessly – it’s what I’m currently using to connect my mouse to my laptop as I’m typing this!
Not to say that USB 3 is all easy to work with – there’s a fair bit of complexity.
For A More Civilized Age
USB 3 is fully differential, and full duplex. It’s still point-to-point, but unlike USB 2 with its pseudodifferential half-duplex transmitters, there are two differential pairs – one RX, one TX. It’s like UART: TX on one end connects to RX on the other end, RX connects to TX, so the two pairs have to be crossed over, typically, inside the cable – for instance, high-speed USB-C cables have the USB 3-intended pairs crossed-over by default! Oh, and you have to put series capacitors on each end, at each TX output.
By [Unconventional2],
CC BY-SA 4.0
In this way, USB 3 physical layer is just like PCIe; in fact, it can be done using basically the same hardware inside the chip! The routing requirements are tougher than USB 2, so you really want to make sure the tracks are impedance-matched, and use a four-layer PCB instead of a two-layer one. Wondering about routing USB 3? Refer to
my guide on routing PCIe,
keeping the above restrictions in mind. Here’s a bonus – unlike USB 2, you can flip the pair polarity for ease of routing!
Device detection isn’t done with resistors – instead, the USB 3 peripheral produces regular pulses on the TX pair, known as LPFS mode, and the peripheral on the other end listens to the RX pair for these pulses. That’s also how polarity flips get compensated for.
There are no resistors to add, though if you want to connect different USB 3 devices on your board, you might need to take care of some common mode level matching every now and then, like niconico shows us in detail
in the extensive readme
for
their wonderful PCB
housing a USB 2 – USB 3 transaction translator.
Just like PCIe, you’re not expected to handle USB 3 yourself. Unlike USB 2, you can’t quite hand-wire it either – there are products of Eastern manufacture that do, and the failures are quite prominent. If you are shopping for USB 3 hubs and find one with a captive cable, be careful –
it might be wired in a lax way,
neglecting USB 3 requirements, and you won’t be able to fix it without buying a new hub. Better stick to USB 3 hubs equipped with microUSB3 and USB-C ports!
If you want your links to work guaranteed, don’t hand-wire them, rather, use impedance-matched traces on your PCB as much as possible, PCB track quality really matters here, and could easily limit your speed; even big companies might screw it up!
For instance, [WifiCable] has tinkered on a laptop with USB 3 ports limited to 5 Gbps mode by a chipset setting, and once the setting was unlocked, the ports would negotiate 10 Gbps mode, but had constant stability issues. I’ve also seen Dell route a USB 3 link over an FPC,
only to get stability issues
with certain kinds of hubs.
The Three Versions
You might have heard of the USB 3 naming shenanigans, with like fifteen different names and logos used to refer to different USB3 versions – like USB 3.0 USB 3.1, USB 3.1 Gen 2, USB 3.2, and so on. I am pleased to inform you there are only three versions – the dozen different names and logos are duplicates of each other, a marketing strategy that confused people more than it helped, nothing more. If you want to learn more about how it came, you can read here, but let’s be fair, you likely don’t need to know that.
These are as big as they look, and haven’t really caught on. by [
Anil Öztas
],
CC BY-SA 4.0
There are only three USB 3 versions as far as cold hard hacking is concerned – you can refer to them as 5 Gbps, 10 Gbps, and 20 Gbps. The 10G bps is just 5 Gbps but overclocked in a few different ways. The 20 Gbps version requires USB-C, and, to simplify it, is like two USB 3 links ganged together. You can’t just put two links together to get 20 Gbps mode, though – it does require a different USB 3 peripheral, and it doesn’t work like two USB3 links, even though it has backwards compatibility.
As for matters more physical, there’s four different connectors you will see USB 3 on – USB-A, USB-B, microUSB 3, and USB-C, each of them getting extra two pairs of pins, and, for the first three, an extra GND pin. This GND line helps provide a more stable ground reference, is perhaps not as much encumbered by the ground current, and with the GND pin placed between the two pairs, it helps prevent crosstalk. USB-A is used on hosts, USB-B and microUSB3 are mainstays on devices, and USB-C, in its universality, can be used everywhere.
remember, microUSB3 is backwards compatible with microUSB cables! By [William.wl.li],
CC BY-SA 4.0
On some devices of Eastern manufacture, in the dark days before USB-C, you might have seen USB-A used as a device port, and the devices would come bundled with the forbidden USB A-to-A cable. MicroUSB3 has the reputation for being finicky, and USB-B 3 is quite bulky, to the point where not all devices could even afford the added height. If you’re in a pinch and you need a USB 3 device port, you can still use USB-A – people will call it cursed, but you might as well wear this badge proudly.
Nowadays, if USB-C isn’t an option because you can’t be bothered to find a mux, a device with microUSB3 would be my second choice. The trick is to buy a few USB-C to microUSB3 cables on Aliexpress. I swear by them, and if you have some microUSB3 devices at home, you should grab two or three cables like that and never worry about microUSB3 again. Not that the forbidden A-A cable is hard to find nowadays, either!
Last thing to mention is, you might see USB 3 cables and sockets in an initially unexpected place – carrying a PCIe x1 link, again, in hardware of Eastern design. USB 3 cables are only used there for the extra lines: USB 2 pins carry REFCLK, and the two high-speed pairs carry, DRAIN typically carries GND, and the USB2 VBUS and GND tend to carry two PCIe link management signals.
This is an unspoken standard across Eastern vendors of many PCIe accessories – you might see slight pinout variations, but nothing too major. Honestly, I respect that a lot, I’ve recommended it to my hardware hacker friends as a way to expose PCIe, and it’s something that I believe is a decent option, especially given the abundance of hardware that uses USB 3 connectors for PCIe. Is it standards compliant? No. Could someone call it cursed? Yes. Is it a viable way to carry a PCIe x1 link? Also yes. Is it easy to implement? Yes, again. Is it cheap? Without a doubt. If you really need x4 and guaranteed high speeds, you might want to go for
Oculink
, but until then, the abusing USB 3 hardware will do just fine.
There’s more I could say about USB 3, but for now, I hope this is more than sufficient for you to wade through USB 3 waters, for whatever hacks and projects you might be exploring. Got questions, corrections, or advice? Ever make something cool with USB 3? Tell us all in the comments down below! | 61 | 11 | [
{
"comment_id": "8061047",
"author": "Greg A",
"timestamp": "2024-11-12T15:30:05",
"content": "thanks – the existence of USB-A 3 and USB-B 3 and microUSB 3 is news to me. stared at the USB-A photo with the extra pins for a good long while before i could believe it wasn’t an AI-generated joke! remi... | 1,760,371,732.758838 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/11/12/minuteman-icbm-launch-tests-triple-warheads/ | Minuteman ICBM Launch Tests Triple Warheads | Maya Posch | [
"News",
"Weapons Hacks"
] | [
"ICBM",
"minuteman III"
] | On November 5th, the United States
launched an LGM-30G Minuteman III ICBM
from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. Roughly 30 minutes later the three warheads onboard struck their targets 4,200 miles (6,759 km) away at the Reagan Test Site in the Marshall Islands. What is remarkable about this test is not that one of these ICBMs was fired — as this is regularly done to test the readiness of the US’ ICBMs — but rather that it carried three warheads instead of a single one.
Originally the
Minuteman III ICBMs
were equipped with three warheads, but in 2014 this was reduced to just one as a result of arms control limits agreed upon with Russia. This New Start Treaty expires in 2026 and the plan is to put three warheads back in the 400 operational Minuteman III ICBMs in the US’ arsenal. To this end a validation test had to be performed, yet a
2023 launch failed
. So far it appears that this new launch has succeeded.
Although the three warheads in this November 5 launch were not nuclear warheads but rather Joint Test Assemblies, one of them contained more than just instrumentation to provide flight telemetry. In order to test the delivery vehicle more fully a so-called ‘high-fidelity’ JTA was also used which is assembled much like a real warhead, including explosives. The only difference being that no nuclear material is present, just surrogate materials to create a similar balance as the full warhead.
Assuming the many gigabytes of test data checks out these Minuteman III ICBMs should be ready to serve well into the 2030s at which point the much-delayed
LGM-35 Sentinel
should take over. | 75 | 12 | [
{
"comment_id": "8060990",
"author": "banuko",
"timestamp": "2024-11-12T12:24:55",
"content": "I wish we could use all that money we spend every year on preparing to murder other people to instead improve lives of poor people in Africa. If we could give everyone there $2000 it would take less than 4... | 1,760,371,732.862858 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/11/12/z80-testing-the-80s-way/ | Z80 Testing The 80s Way | Al Williams | [
"Retrocomputing"
] | [
"fairchild",
"Mostek",
"z80"
] | According to [MTSI], if you used a Z80 chip back in the 1980s, it almost certainly
passed through the sole Fairchild Sentry 610
system that gave it the seal of approval.
The Sentry was big iron for its day. The CPU was a 24-bit device and ran at a blistering 250 kHz. Along with a tape drive and a specialized test bed, it could test Z80s, F8s, and other Mostek products of the day. There was a disk drive, too. The 26-inch platters stored under 10 kilobytes. Despite the relatively low speed of the CPU, the Sentry could test devices running up to 10 MHz, which was plenty for the CPUs it was testing. The actual test interface ran at 11 MHz and used an exotic divider to generate slower frequencies.
According to the post, an informal count of the number of chips in the device came up with around 60,000. That, as you might expect, took a huge power supply, too.
From
some 1975 corporate literature
:
“Optimized for engineering, sophisticated production needs, QA and test center operations, the Sentry 610 is the most versatile analytical tester available for engineering and production. It can perform the widest range of tests for the broadest range of components. At user option, the Sentry 610 can perform high-speed MaS/LSI, PCB, and bipolar tests simultaneously. It offers complete testing at the wafer level and through automatic handlers at full-rated device speeds up to 10 MHz. The wide choice of peripherals gives the Sentry 610 system massive data handling capacity to manipulate, analyze, compute and generate reports on test procedures in analyzing MaS/LSI.”
These days, you are as likely to stick test hardware on the IC as have a big machine on the outside. And even then, you probably wouldn’t have something this elaborate. But in its day, this was high-tech for sure.
The Z80 sure has had a
long lifespan
. It shouldn’t surprise you that Z80s need to be tested, just like
everything else
. | 24 | 7 | [
{
"comment_id": "8060979",
"author": "Paul",
"timestamp": "2024-11-12T11:04:53",
"content": "And the price was ???",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "8060981",
"author": "forrest William mcelfresh",
"timestamp": "2024-11-12T11:33:... | 1,760,371,732.930847 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/11/11/a-handheld-replica-sound-voltex-game/ | A Handheld Replica Sound Voltex Game | Lewin Day | [
"Games"
] | [
"diy handheld",
"handheld",
"sound voltex"
] | Sound Voltex is a music game from Konami; in fact, it’s a whole series of arcade games! [Luke] is a big fan, so decided to build
a hardware handheld to play the Unnamed Sound Voltex Clone.
No—Voltex is not a typo, that’s the name.
If you’re unfamiliar, the
Unnamed SDVX Clone
is basically a community-built game that’s inspired by the original Konami titles. [Luke] decided to build a handheld console for playing the game, which is more akin to the arcade experience versus playing it on a desktop computer.
[Luke’s] build relies on a Raspberry Pi 4B, which donates its considerable processing power and buckets of RAM to the project. The Pi was installed into a 3D-printed case with a battery pack, touchscreen, and speakers, along with multiple arcade buttons and rotary encoders for controlling the game. Booting the Pi and clicking the icon on the desktop starts up the Unnamed Sound Voltex Clone. The game itself will be fairly familiar to any rhythm game player, though it’s a tough more sophisticated than Audiosurf. [Luke] demonstrates the gameplay
on YouTube
, and the finished project looks great.
We always love seeing handheld hacks, from
PlayStations that never were
to
retro DIY creations
. Video after the break. | 0 | 0 | [] | 1,760,371,732.96626 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/11/11/britains-oldest-satellite-on-the-move-a-space-curiosity/ | Britain’s Oldest Satellite On The Move: A Space Curiosity | Heidi Ulrich | [
"News",
"Space"
] | [
"graveyarding",
"satellite",
"skynet",
"space debris"
] | Space and mystery always spark our curiosity, so when we stumbled upon the story of Skynet-1A, Britain’s first communication satellite from 1969, we knew it was worth exploring. The BBC recently highlighted its unexpected movement across the sky – you can check out
their full coverage here
. The idea that this half-century-old hunk of metal mysteriously shifted orbits leaves us with more questions than answers. Who moved Skynet-1A, and why?
Launched just months after the Apollo 11 Moon landing, Skynet-1A stood as a symbol of Cold War innovation, initially placed above East Africa to support British military communications. But unlike the silent drift of inactive satellites heading naturally eastward, Skynet-1A defied orbital norms, popping up halfway across the globe above the Americas. This wasn’t mere chance; someone or something had made it fire its thrusters, likely in the mid-1970s.
Experts like Dr. Stuart Eves and UCL’s Rachel Hill suggest the possibility of control being temporarily transferred to the US, particularly during maintenance periods at the UK’s RAF Oakhanger. Still, the specifics remain buried in lost records and decades-old international collaborations. Skynet-1A’s journey serves as a stark reminder of the persistent challenges in space and the gaps in our historical data.
Looking for more space oddities? Hackaday has some interesting articles on
space debris
. You can read
the original BBC article
here. | 9 | 8 | [
{
"comment_id": "8060898",
"author": "BrightBlueJim",
"timestamp": "2024-11-12T05:53:52",
"content": "More technical info about this:https://gnosisnetwork.org/blog/the-curious-case-of-skynet-1a-and-why-it-matters/",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": ... | 1,760,371,733.013535 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/11/11/automated-weed-spraying-drone-needs-no-human-intervention/ | Automated Weed Spraying Drone Needs No Human Intervention | Danie Conradie | [
"drone hacks"
] | [
"agricultural robot",
"ardupilot",
"weeding"
] | Battling weeds can be expensive, labor intensive and use large amounts of chemicals. To help make this easier [NathanBuilds] has developed
V2 of his open-source drone weed spraying system
, complete with automated battery swaps, herbicide refills, and an AI vision system for weed identification.
The drone has a 3D printed frame, doubling as a chemical reservoir.
V1
used a off-the-shelf frame, with separate tank. Surprisingly, it doesn’t look like [Nathan] had issues with leaks between the layer lines. For autonomous missions, it uses ArduPilot running on a PixHawk, coupled with
RTK GPS
for cm-level accuracy and a LiDAR altimeter. [Nathan] demonstrated the system in a field where he is trying to eradicate invasive blackberry bushes while minimizing the effect on the native prairie grass. He uses a custom image classification model running on a Raspberry Pi Zero, which only switches on the sprayers when it sees blackberry bushes in the frame. The
Raspberry Pi Global Shutter camera
is used to get blur-free images.
At just 305×305 mm (1×1 ft), the drone has limited herbicide capacity, and we expect the flights to be fairly short. For the automated pit stops, the drone lands on a 6×8 ft pad, where a motorized capture system pulls the drone into the reload bay. Here a linear actuator pushes a new battery into the side of the drone while pushing the spend battery one out the other side. The battery unit is a normal LiPo battery in 3D-printed frame. The terminal are connected to copper wire and tape contacts on the outside the battery unit, which connect to matching contacts in the drone and charging receptacles. This means the battery can easily short if it touches a metal surface, but a minor redesign could solve this quickly. There are revolving receptacles on either side of the reload bay, which immediately start charging the battery when ejected from the drone.
Developing a fully integrated system like this is no small task, and it shows a lot of potential. It might look a little rough around the edges, but [Nathan] has released all the
design files
and
detailed video tutorials
for all the subsystems, so it’s ready for refinement. | 4 | 3 | [
{
"comment_id": "8060813",
"author": "The Commenter Formerly Known As Ren",
"timestamp": "2024-11-12T00:13:56",
"content": "He can send the blackberry bushes to me! Yummy!",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "8060838",
"author": "professor chorl... | 1,760,371,733.052937 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/11/11/thermoelectric-blaster-flings-ice-projectiles/ | Thermoelectric Blaster Flings Ice Projectiles | Lewin Day | [
"Weapons Hacks"
] | [
"blaster",
"ice",
"ice blaster"
] | Nerf blasters are fun and all, but flinging foam can get old. Picking it up again, even moreso. This blaster from [Concept Crafted Creations]
gets around that annoying problem by shooting ice instead.
The concept was to build a better water gun with longer range—and what better way to do that than by shooting ice instead? The blaster relies on a PVC air tank for propulsion—one of the most controversial design choices you can make if you read the comments around here. It’s charged by a small air compressor, and dumping the air is handled by a solenoid valve. So far, so simple.
What makes this blaster special is where it gets its ammunition from. The blaster uses a custom CNC-machined block from PCBway to act as a freeze chamber. Water enters an aluminum block, and is cooled by thermoelectric elements. Once the projectile has frozen inside the chamber, it’s stuck in place, so the chamber is then heated by a small heating element. This melts the projectile just enough to allow it to be fired.
It’s a complicated but ingenious way of building an ice blaster. It does pack some real punch, too. It shoots the ice projectiles hard enough to shatter wine glasses. That’s enough to tell us you don’t want to be aiming this thing at your pals in a friendly match of Capture the Flag.
Stick to paintballs, perhaps
. Video after the break. | 38 | 15 | [
{
"comment_id": "8060750",
"author": "Steven Clark",
"timestamp": "2024-11-11T21:08:29",
"content": "This has big Dashiell Hammett murder weapon vibes.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "8060756",
"author": "Paul",
"timestamp": "2024-11-11T... | 1,760,371,733.30403 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/11/11/making-a-unique-type-of-wind-gauge-for-home-assistant-use/ | Making A Unique Type Of Wind Gauge For Home Assistant Use | Lewin Day | [
"Misc Hacks"
] | [
"anemometer",
"strain gauge",
"wind"
] | Sometimes, it’s nice to know how windy it is outside. Knowing the
direction
of the wind can be a plus, too. To that end,
[Sebastian Sokołowski] built himself an unusual anemometer—a wind gauge—to feed into his smart home system.
[Sebastian’s] build is able to tell both wind speed
and
direction—and with no moving parts! Sort of, anyway. That makes the design altogether different from the usual cup type anemometers with wind vanes that you might be used to seeing on home weather stations. [Sebastian] wanted to go a different route—he wanted a sensor that wouldn’t be so subject to physical wear over time.
The build relies on strain gauges. Basically, [Sebastian] 3D printed a sail-like structure that will flex under the influence of the wind. With multiple strain gauges mounted on the structure, it’s possible to determine the strength of the wind making it flex and in what direction. [Sebastian] explains how this is achieved, particularly involving the way the device compensates for typical expansion and contraction due to temperature changes.
It’s a really unique way to measure wind speed and direction; we’d love to learn more about how it performs in terms of precision, accuracy, and longevity—particularly with regards to regular mechanical and
ultrasonic designs.
We’ll be keeping a close eye on [Sebastian’s] work going forward. Video after the break. | 13 | 9 | [
{
"comment_id": "8060736",
"author": "reg",
"timestamp": "2024-11-11T20:25:34",
"content": "A pal of mine at Cornell pondered doing that exact same thing years ago. The issues with that are the strain gauges and the elastic material they need to be mounted on to measure very small amounts of strain... | 1,760,371,733.166063 |
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