url stringlengths 37 208 | title stringlengths 4 148 | author stringclasses 173 values | publish_date stringclasses 1 value | categories listlengths 0 12 | tags listlengths 0 27 | featured_image stringlengths 0 272 | content stringlengths 0 56.1k | comments_count int64 0 900 | scraped_comments_count int64 0 50 | comments listlengths 0 50 | scraped_at float64 1.76B 1.76B |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
https://hackaday.com/2024/09/16/well-take-diy-diamond-making-for-200000/ | We’ll Take DIY Diamond Making For $200,000 | Kristina Panos | [
"chemistry hacks",
"News"
] | [
"chemical vapor deposition",
"CVD",
"diamonds",
"high-pressure high-temperature",
"HPHT",
"lab-grown diamond"
] | They say you can buy anything on the Internet if you know the right places to go, and apparently if you’re in the mood to make diamonds, then
Alibaba is the spot
. You even have your choice of high-pressure, high-temperature (
HPHT
) machine for $200,000, or a chemical vapor deposition (
CVD
) version, which costs more than twice as much.
Here’s a bit more about how each process works
.
A sea of HPHT machines. Image via
Alibaba
Of course, you’ll need way more than just the machine and a power outlet. Additional resources are a must, and some expertise would go a long way. Even so, you end up with raw diamonds that need to be processed in order to become gems or industrial components.
For HPHT, you’d also need a bunch of good graphite, catalysts such as iron and cobalt, and precise control systems for temperature and pressure, none of which are included as a kit with the machine.
For CVD, you’d need methane and hydrogen gases, and precise control of microwaves or hot filaments. In either case, you’re not getting anywhere without diamond seed crystals.
Right now, the idea of Joe Hacker making diamonds in his garage seems about as far off as home 3D printing did in about 1985. But we got there, didn’t we? Hey, it’s a thought.
Main and thumbnail images via
Unsplash | 12 | 3 | [
{
"comment_id": "8040743",
"author": "asdf",
"timestamp": "2024-09-17T06:09:31",
"content": "“You could do that but why, why would you do that.” – Benjamin Franklin",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "8040851",
"author": "purplepeopleated"... | 1,760,371,789.586626 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/09/16/the-universe-as-we-know-it-may-end-sooner-than-expected/ | The Universe As We Know It May End Sooner Than Expected | Maya Posch | [
"Science"
] | [
"higgs field"
] | The ‘Sombrero Potential’ as seen with the Higgs mechanism.
One of the exciting aspects of some fields of physics is that they involve calculating the expected time until the Universe ends or experiences fundamental shifts that would render most if not all of the ‘laws of physics’ invalid. Within the Standard Model (SM), the false vacuum state is one such aspect, as it implies that the Universe’s quantum fields that determine macrolevel effects like mass can shift through quantum field decay into a lower, more stable state. One such field is the Higgs field, which according to a team of researchers
may decay sooner
than we had previously assumed.
As the Higgs field (through the
Higgs boson
) is responsible for giving particles mass, it’s not hard to imagine the chaos that would ensue if part of the Higgs field were to decay and cause a spherical ripple effect throughout the Universe. Particle masses would change, along with all associated physics, as suddenly the lower Higgs field state means that everything has significantly more mass. To say that it would shake up the Universe would an understatement.
Of course, this expected time-to-decay has only shifted from 10
794
years to 10
790
years with the corrections to the previous calculations
as provided in the paper
by [Pietro Baratella] and colleagues, and they also refer to it as ‘slightly shorter’. A sidenote here is also that the electroweak vacuum’s decay is part of the imperfect SM, which much like the
false vacuum hypothesis
are part of these models, and not based on clear empirical evidence (yet). | 44 | 10 | [
{
"comment_id": "8040725",
"author": "Quad",
"timestamp": "2024-09-17T02:11:05",
"content": "https://arxiv.org/html/2409.06737v1Another recent paper says earth may no longer be habitable in less than 1000 years",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "... | 1,760,371,789.94159 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/09/16/raspberry-pi-becomes-secure-vpn-router/ | Raspberry Pi Becomes Secure VPN Router | Bryan Cockfield | [
"Network Hacks"
] | [
"openwrt",
"raspberry pi",
"router",
"security",
"smartphone",
"vpn",
"Wireguard"
] | OpenWRT is a powerful piece of open-source software that can turn plenty of computers into highly configurable and capable routers. That amount of versatility comes at a cost, though; OpenWRT can be difficult to configure outside of the most generic use cases. [Paul] generally agrees with this sentiment and his latest project seeks to solve a single use case for routing network traffic,
with a Raspberry Pi configured to act as a secure VPN-enabled router configurable with a smartphone
.
The project is called PiFi and, while it’s a much more straightforward piece of software to configure, at its core it is still running OpenWRT. The smartphone app allows most users to abstract away most of the things about OpenWRT that can be tricky while power users can still get under the hood if they need to. There’s built-in support for Wireguard-based VPNs as well which will automatically route all traffic through your VPN of choice. And, since no Pi router is complete without some amount of ad blocking, this router can also take care of removing most ads as well in a similar way that the popular Pi-hole does. More details can be found on
the project’s GitHub page
.
This router has a few other tricks up its sleeve as well. There’s network-attached storage (NAS) built in , with the ability to use the free space on the Pi’s microSD card or a USB flash drive. It also has support for Ethernet and AC1300 wireless adapters which generally have much higher speeds than the built-in WiFi on a Raspberry Pi. It would be a great way to build a guest network, a secure WiFi hotspot when traveling, or possibly even as a home router provided that the home isn’t too big or the limited coverage problem can be solved in some other way. If you’re looking for something that packs a little more punch for your home, take a look at
this guide to building a pfSense router from the ground up
. | 20 | 8 | [
{
"comment_id": "8040735",
"author": "Drone",
"timestamp": "2024-09-17T04:29:35",
"content": "This thing smells fishy. To get half way decent dual-band WiFi bandwidth that is actually supported it seems you have to buy a AC1300 Mbps dual-band WiFi USB 3.0 device named PiFi – The ULTIMATE Pi Router K... | 1,760,371,789.998181 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/09/16/no-z80-no-problem/ | No Z80? No Problem! | Jenny List | [
"Retrocomputing"
] | [
"eZ80",
"RC2014",
"z80",
"zilog"
] | Earlier this year Zilog stopped production of the classic 40-pin DIP Z80 microprocessor, a move that brought a tear to the eye of retro computing enthusiasts everywhere. This chip had a huge influence on both desktop and embedded computing that lingers to this day, but it’s fair to say that the market for it has dwindled. If you have a retrocomputer then, what’s to be done? If you’re [Dean Netherton], you
create a processor card for the popular RC2014 retrocomputer backplane
, carrying the eZ80, a successor chip that’s still in production.
The eZ80 can be thought of as a Z80 system-on-chip, with microcontroller-style peripherals, RAM, and Flash memory on board. It’s much faster than the original and can address a relatively huge 16MB of memory. For this board, he’s put the chip on a processor daughterboard that plugs into a CPU card with a set of latches to drive the slower RC2014 bus. We can’t help drawing analogies with some of the 16-bit upgrades to 8-bit platforms back in the day, which used similar tactics.
So this won’t save the Z80, but it might well give a new dimension to Z80 hacking. Meanwhile, we’re sure there remain enough of the 40-pin chips out there to keep hackers going for many years to come if you prefer the original. Meanwhile,
read our coverage of the end-of-life announcement
,
even roll your own silicon if you want
., or learn about the man who started it all,
Federico Faggin
. | 17 | 6 | [
{
"comment_id": "8040665",
"author": "Joshua",
"timestamp": "2024-09-16T20:12:02",
"content": "“Earlier this year Zilog stopped production of the classic 40-pin DIP Z80 microprocessor, a move that brought a tear to the eye of retro computing enthusiasts everywhere. ”Yes, but what’s easily being forg... | 1,760,371,789.439309 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/09/16/the-jawncon-0x1-badge-dials-up-a-simpler-time/ | The JawnCon 0x1 Badge Dials Up A Simpler Time | Tom Nardi | [
"cons",
"Wearable Hacks"
] | [
"badge",
"badgelife",
"hayes command set",
"JawnCon",
"modem"
] | For hackers of a certain age, the warbling of an analog modem remains something of a siren song. Even if you haven’t heard it in decades, the shrill tones and crunchy static are like a time machine that brings back memories of a bygone era. Alien to modern ears, in the 1980s and 90s, it was the harbinger of unlimited possibilities. An audible reminder that you were about to cross the threshold into cyberspace.
If you can still faintly hear those strangely comforting screeches in the back of your mind, the
JawnCon 0x1 badge is for you
. With a row of authentic vintage red LEDs and an impeccably designed 3D-printed enclosure, the badge is essentially a scaled-down replica of the Hayes SmartModem. But it doesn’t just look the part — powered by the ESP8266 and the open source
RetroWiFiModem
project, the badge will allow attendees to connect their modern computers to services from the early Internet via era-appropriate AT commands while they’re at the con.
In a detailed write-up, we get a behind-the-scenes look at how the badge was designed and assembled. Being that the team is only expecting 250 or so attendees, they decided to handle production in-house. That meant printing out the cases over the course of a month and a half on a single Prusa MK4, and hand-soldering a few PCBs each day to hit their final numbers. Each front panel was also individually placed in a laser for marking, an exceptionally time-consuming process, but it’s hard to argue with those results.
While the design is admittedly pushing the definition of what can realistically be called a “badge,” there’s a lanyard attached so it’s technically wearable. If the idea of being surrounded by a bunch of nerds wearing tiny modems around their necks is as enticing to you as it is to us, you’ll absolutely be among friends during this Philadelphia-area hacker con.
Although the JawnCon 0x1 badge clearly appeals to those with graying beards (literally or metaphorically), it should also provide an excellent chance for younger attendees to experience a version of the Internet that no longer exists in the real world.
The crew behind the con has spent the last few months spinning up a number of services that attendees will be able to access, including a bulletin board system (BBS), a multi-user dungeon (MUD), and a private AOL Instant Messenger (AIM) server. There’s also a selection of lo-fi websites to browse hosted on a Cobalt RaQ 4 server appliance from the year 2000. Having seen the reactions similar Internet microcosms have had while
running at various Vintage Computer Festivals
, we expect it should be a lot of fun for veterans and newbies alike.
We visited the inaugural JawnCon last year
and came away eager for more. Judging by this look at the badge, the
scheduled speakers
, and the various activities set to take place during the two-day con (October 11th to the 12th), they’ve certainly delivered.
If you’re in the Philadelphia area, we highly recommend taking the ride out and experiencing the con in person. But if you can’t make it, don’t worry. We’ll be covering all the highlights of JawnCon 0x1 just as soon as we finish playing with our tiny modem. | 10 | 5 | [
{
"comment_id": "8040651",
"author": "Jan",
"timestamp": "2024-09-16T19:09:35",
"content": "“While the design is admittedly pushing the definition of what can realistically be called a “badge,” there’s a lanyard attached so it’s technically wearable.”Ehmmm… hasn’t the whole “badge” thing gotten out ... | 1,760,371,789.636537 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/09/19/embossing-graphics-by-3d-printing-on-woodquick-hacks-embossing-graphics-by-3d-printing-on-wood/ | Embossing Graphics By 3D Printing On Wood | Dave Rowntree | [
"3d Printer hacks"
] | [
"3d printing",
"embossing",
"tactile",
"wood"
] | Embossing (making raised shapes) and debossing (making sunken shapes) on 3D-printed surfaces is not a new idea; we do it all the time. [Cory] from Vancouver Hack Space was playing around with 3D printing on wood, and came up with the idea of creating raised
tactile surfaces using a simple transfer process
.
We don’t often try to print directly onto a wooden surface for various reasons, but [Cory] wanted to give it a go. They hoped to get some grain patterns to transfer to the surface, but as they say in the blog entry, the beauty of wood patterns is in the colouration, which doesn’t transfer. Next, they laser etched a logo into the wood surface to see how well that would transfer. It did create a discernable raised impression, but they forgot to mirror the image (oops!) and relevel the bed, so the results are less impressive than they could be. Still, it’s another useful technique to consider.
Embossing is the process by which braille sheets are made. This
DIY braille encoder is pretty sweet
. Of course, the process can simply be decorative. Here’s how to use a laser cutter to
create your own embossing seals
. The traditional way to emboss paper for a fancy effect was to use embossing powder to selectively change the properties of drying paper. But how can you
make the stuff for cheap
? | 9 | 5 | [
{
"comment_id": "8041555",
"author": "Felix Domestica",
"timestamp": "2024-09-19T16:02:01",
"content": "Uhm. Speaking as a letterpress operator, the traditional way to emboss paper was to apply pressure…",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "8041561... | 1,760,371,789.486278 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/09/19/switching-regulator-mistake-fixing-for-dummies/ | Switching Regulators: Mistake Fixing For Dummies | Arya Voronova | [
"Featured",
"how-to",
"Skills",
"Slider"
] | [
"howto",
"mod board",
"switching regulator"
] | Some time ago, while
designing the PCB
for the
Sony Vaio replacement motherboard,
I went on a quest to find a perfect 5 V boost regulator. Requirements are simple – output 5 V at about 2A , with input ranging from 3 V to 5 V, and when the input is 5 V, go into “100% duty” (“pass-through”/”bypass”) mode where the output is directly powered from the input, saving me from any conversion inefficiencies for USB port power when a charger is connected. Plus, a single EN pin, no digital configuration, small footprint, no BGA, no unsolicited services or offers – what more could one ask for.
As usual, I go to an online shop, set the parameters: single channel, all topologies that say “boost” in the name, output range, sort by price, download datasheets one by one and see what kind of nice chips I can find. Eventually, I found the holy grail chip for me,
the MIC2876,
originally from Micrel, now made by Microchip.
MIC2876 is a 5 V regulator with the exact features I describe above – to a T! It also comes with cool features, like a PG “Power good” output, bidirectional load disconnect (voltage applied to output won’t leak into input), EMI reduction and efficiency modes, and it’s decently cheap. I put it on the Sony Vaio board among five other regulators, ordered the board, assembled it, powered it up, and applied a positive logic level onto the regulator’s EN pin.
Immediately, I saw the regulator producing 3 V output accompanied by loud buzzing noise – as opposed to producing 5 V output without any audible noise. Here’s how the regulator ended up failing, how exactly I screwed up the design, and how I’m creating a mod board to fix it – so that the boards I meticulously assembled, don’t go to waste.
Some Background… Noise
This regulator is one angry chip – with a 2 MHz switching speed, it’s relatively high as far as regulators go. More common is to see 1 MHz and below. Higher switching speed means it can use a smaller inductor, which is great for routability. It also might not handle some layout or component mistakes that a lower-frequency regulator might do.
Still, I made a number of good choices. With boost regulators, remember – you have to pick an inductor according to the input current, not output current; recalculate accordingly, and check the efficiency graphs. That, I achieved – while I was limited by the size of the inductor I could fit onto the board, I did find a 3.8 A inductor that let me achieve a little under 2 A output. Iin theory – good enough. All places where 5 V could go on the board are current-limited, and there are just two USB ports I need to power, so even 1.5 A of 5 V output is plenty. I also picked proper footprints for both inductors and capacitors – it can be tricky to find 22 uF 10 V capacitors in 0603, but it’s a breeze if you pick 0805. A regulator can fail if you don’t provide it with the kind of capacitance that the datasheet asks for, but I put two footprints on both input and output, and it let me experiment with output caps.
layout as manufactured
spot the mistake
On the other hand, you might have already noticed at least one problem if you’ve read
the layout article
thoroughly. For one, see that feedback divider? It’s supposed to be connected after the capacitors, measuring the output – not directly between the inductor and the capacitors, which is a point where a lot of current flows back and forth. I’m not sure how I didn’t catch myself doing this, given that I thoroughly described in an article in the same timeframe that I was routing this board; it’s the kind of mistake you can’t help but write off to general human fallibility. There are a good few problems, though – I should have reconsidered this layout severely before ordering.
Example Layout As Checklist Item
This example layout is elegant, and it’s a far cry from my first take
A contributing factor, I’m sure, is that the datasheet doesn’t have a layout example – you only have the evaluation board documentation to go off of, and I didn’t get that far. It’s not always that the datasheet recommendation will be reasonable, or look reasonable. For instance,
in the last article,
where I reviewed switching regulator layouts, I’ve shown the TI’s puzzling proposed layout for a buck regulator chip of theirs – with intentions hard to decypher both for me and for fellow hackers in the comment section.
However, it helps way more often than it might puzzle you, and if you never even see the layout example because you have to hunt down extra documents for it, you might not notice fundamental differences, just like I did not notice them. The bottom line is I should have noticed the missing layout example and hunted down the evaluation board datasheet.
Comparing mine with the example layout, you might notice another problem. My ground routing differs a fair bit, and it sure seems that my routing is inferior – my ground is more isolated islands, with a fair bit of ground return current forced to go through vias, and the example layout has a fairly straightforward ground path, no underside layers strictly required. What’s more – you might notice ground return current flowing between output capacitors and the regulator center pad, which will go by the pin 4 – AGND. AGND is specifically a pin supposed to stay away from the switching loop pins, and I do remember noticing this at some point, thinking I should revisit the layout and see if I have fulfilled this obligation. It stayed as a low-level mental TODO in my brain, one that I never actually revisited.
One last thing is placing components under the regulator. I can’t quite afford to free up the under-regulator space on the opposite layer of the board – the board is tightly packed by necessity. My defense is that this is a 4-layer board, with two inner layers dedicated to ground, but I’m not sure whether that negates the concerns of the engineers who wrote this recommendation. This is the only thing I’m leaving in when it comes to v2 board design – otherwise, let’s take a look!
hours into debugging the board. this fault’s noise even knocked out cold the SD card!
Out of interest and wanting to finally get to the bringup, I re-wired the FB connection using magnet wire, and even added a more direct GND connection for the output capacitors along the way. The regulator’s behaviour didn’t change one bit, however. Either the GND layout is seriously critical (likely), or the chip got damaged after being booted up with a miswired feedback network; whichever option it is, looks like things won’t be as quick as that. In general, I spent four-five hours on this particular issue, slowly realizing that it’s screwed up beyond fixing.
No matter – let’s just design a mod board that works around all of my mistakes. This helps me bring up the v1 PCB fully – wouldn’t want to have $300 worth of components and days of assembly going to waste. Also, after just a few modifications, we will have a cool switching regulator breakout that we can all use as a building block!
Quick, Simple, Powerful
To make a modification like this, I start by marking an outline of the mod on one of the User layers, then open the file in a text editor, Ctrl-F for the User layer name I used, copy all the lines and circles – and paste them into a footprint
.kicad_mod
file that’s also open in a text editor. There are a few caveats – first one, the User.Eco2 layer in KiCad UI is called Eco2.User in the actual file. Then, as you copy-paste graphics you’ve drawn, you will also want to replace all “gr_” with “fp_”. Remember to close your kicad_mod while pasting contents into it in the text editor – otherwise, it can be overwritten by accident. Finally, open your
.kicad_mod
in the footprint viewer, box-select your new lines, and move them so that the (0,0) center point is somewhere near the outline, because it’s going to be a bother to handle this footprint otherwise.
draw lines on an user layer,
copy the lines out of the PCB open in the text editor,
paste them into a footprint file and re-center them in the editor
scoping out the fit,
rotating and aligning (set rotation step to 5 degrees),
and get this end result.
Then, open a new PCB project, copy-paste the 5 V boost schematic block into the schematic, open the footprint association view and bring over any footprints missing, sync the PCB file, then duplicate the evaluation board layout. Thanks to this workflow, I quickly created a 5 V boost mod board I can solder on top of the board I currently have. This board is about to be ordered, with proper layout, and I’ll soon be soldering it onto the motherboard then testing it – expect an update in the comment section.
There are five (or, four and a half) other switching regulators on the same board, and, as I’m bringing them up and testing them, I’ll write one more article where I will be sharing lessons, whatever they turn out, showing you examples of how to pick parts for a switching regulator, plus, most certainly, demonstrating a couple more more little ways you might get things wrong and how to avoid them. So, till next time! | 31 | 8 | [
{
"comment_id": "8041530",
"author": "jenningsthecat",
"timestamp": "2024-09-19T14:23:01",
"content": "I’ve done a little bit of design with switching regulators, but I had the luxuries of slightly slower speeds and enough room to follow the (readily available) manufacturer’s recommended layout fair... | 1,760,371,789.761662 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/09/19/mothbox-watches-bugs-so-you-or-your-grad-students-dont-have-to/ | Mothbox Watches Bugs, So You — Or Your Grad Students — Don’t Have To | Dan Maloney | [
"green hacks",
"Machine Learning"
] | [
"arducam",
"computer vision",
"ecology",
"entomology",
"insects",
"machine learning",
"moths",
"wildlife"
] | To the extent that one has strong feelings about insects, they tend toward the extremes of a spectrum that runs from a complete fascination with their diversity and the specializations they’ve evolved to exploit unique and ultra-narrow ecological niches, and “Eww, ick! Kill it!” It’s pretty clear that [Dr. Andy Quitmeyer] and his team tend toward the former, and while they love their bugs, spending all night watching them is a tough enough gig that they came up with
Mothbox, the automated insect monitor
.
Insect censuses are valuable tools for assessing the state of an ecosystem, especially insects’ vast numbers, short lifespan, and proximity to the base of the food chain. Mothbox is designed to be deployed in insect-rich environments and automatically recognize and tally the moths it sees. It uses an Arducam and Raspberry Pi for image capture, plus an array of UV and visible LEDs, all in a weatherproof enclosure. The moths are attracted to the light and fly between the camera and a plain white background, where an image is captured. YOLO v8 locates all the moths in the image, crops them out, and sends them to
BioCLIP
, a vision model for organismal biology that appears similar to
something we’ve seen before
. The model automatically sorts the moths by taxonomic features and keeps a running tally of which species it sees.
Mothbox is open source and the site has a ton of build information if you’re keen to start bug hunting, plus plenty of pictures of actual deployments, which should serve as nightmare fuel to the insectophobes out there. | 8 | 3 | [
{
"comment_id": "8041518",
"author": "Panondorf",
"timestamp": "2024-09-19T13:02:42",
"content": "What does it mean to be at the base of the food chain?As a human we see ourselves as being at the top right? Except for maybe some poisonous species what don’t we eat? And even those we have ways to get... | 1,760,371,789.532381 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/09/19/a-guide-to-laser-cutting-metal-if-youve-got-the-cash/ | A Guide To Laser Cutting Metal, If You’ve Got The Cash | Al Williams | [
"Laser Hacks",
"Tool Hacks"
] | [
"Laser cutting"
] | While many of us now have laser cutters — either a K40-style machine or one of the newer high-output diodes — you probably don’t have one that cuts metal. True, some hobby lasers now offer IR laser heads with modest power to engrave metal. The xTool S1, for example, accepts a 2 W IR laser as an option, but we doubt it would cut through anything thicker than foil. However, there are a growing number of fiber and carbon dioxide lasers that can cut metal at semi-reasonable prices, and [All3DP] has
a primer on the technology
that is worth a read.
According to the post, CO
2
lasers are less expensive but require gas assist, can’t work with shiny metals well, and are finicky because of the mirrors and glass tube inside. Fiber lasers cost more, but don’t need gas, work on more materials, and have fewer parts that need maintenance or may be prone to damage. There are other kinds of lasers, but the post focuses on these, the most common ones.
Machines that can cut metal aren’t cheap. They start at about $10,000. However, prices are dropping and we remember when $10,000 would buy you what would today be a terrible oscilloscope, so maybe there’s hope for an impulse-buy metal-cutting laser one day.
It isn’t that diode lasers can’t
cut metal
at all, but the results are not terribly useful. What would you rather have? A metal cutter or
a metal 3D printer
? | 9 | 5 | [
{
"comment_id": "8041461",
"author": "SpillsDirt",
"timestamp": "2024-09-19T09:28:57",
"content": "Im going more manual myself. Santa’s bringing me a 2000W 3 in 1 raycus cutter/cleaner/welding system. You can find those around $6k now.With my luck, the week after I get it, some AliE company will sta... | 1,760,371,789.683139 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/09/18/trees-turned-into-wind-turbines-non-destructively/ | Trees Turned Into Wind Turbines, Non-Destructively | Bryan Cockfield | [
"green hacks"
] | [
"energy",
"generator",
"linear generator",
"permanent magnet",
"tree",
"tree branch",
"wind",
"Wind turbine"
] | Trees and forests are an incredibly important natural resource — not only for lumber and agricultural products, but also because they maintain a huge amount of biodiversity, stabilize their local environments, and help combat climate change as a way to sequester atmospheric carbon. But the one thing they don’t do is make electricity. At least, not directly. [Concept Crafted Creations] is working on solving this issue
by essentially turning an unmodified tree into a kind of wind turbine
.
The idea works by first attaching a linear generator to the trunk of a tree. This generator has a hand-wound set of coils on the outside, with permanent magnets on a shaft that can travel up and down inside the set of coils. The motion to power the generator comes from a set of ropes connected high up in the tree’s branches. When the wind moves the branches, the ropes transfer the energy to a 3D printed rotational mechanism attached to a gearbox, which then pumps the generator up and down. The more ropes, branches, and generators attached to a tree the more electricity can be produced.
Admittedly, this project is still a proof-of-concept, although the currently deployed prototype seems promising. [Concept Crafted Creations] hopes to work with others building similar devices to improve on the idea and build more refined prototypes in the future. It’s also not the only way of building a wind energy generator outside of the traditional bladed design, either.
It’s possible to build a wind-powered generator with no moving parts that uses vibrations instead of rotational motion as well
. | 58 | 30 | [
{
"comment_id": "8041416",
"author": "Lily",
"timestamp": "2024-09-19T05:21:36",
"content": "I really like the idea behind the generator; efficient or not, that’s pretty neat.I really like the idea behind the generator; efficient or not, that’s pretty neat.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
... | 1,760,371,789.853426 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/09/18/creating-a-twisted-grid-image-illusion-with-a-diffusion-model/ | Creating A Twisted Grid Image Illusion With A Diffusion Model | Maya Posch | [
"Art",
"Artificial Intelligence"
] | [
"diffusion model",
"optical illusion"
] | Images that can be interpreted in a variety of ways have existed for many decades, with the classical example being Rubin’s vase — which some viewers see as a vase, and others a pair of human faces.
When the duck becomes a bunny, if you ignore the graphical glitches that used to be part of the duck. (Credit: Steve Mould, YouTube)
Where things get trickier is if you want to create an image that changes into something else that looks realistic when you rotate each section of it within a 3×3 grid. In
a video by [Steve Mould]
, he explains how this can be accomplished, by using a diffusion model to identify similar characteristics of two images and to create an output image that effectively contains essential features of both images.
Naturally, this process can be done by hand too, with the goal always being to create a plausible image in either orientation that has enough detail to trick the brain into filling in the details. To head down the path of interpreting what the eye sees as a duck, a bunny, a vase or the outline of faces.
Using a diffusion model to create such illusions is quite a natural fit, as it works with filling in noise until a plausible enough image begins to appear. Of course, whether it is a viable image is ultimately not determined by the model, but by the viewer, as humans are susceptible to such illusions while machine vision still struggles to distinguish a cat from a loaf and a raisin bun from a spotted dog. The imperfections of diffusion models would seem to be a benefit here, as it will happily churn through abstractions and iterations with no understanding or interpretive bias, while the human can steer it towards a viable interpretation. | 4 | 2 | [
{
"comment_id": "8041408",
"author": "Zai1208",
"timestamp": "2024-09-19T04:13:34",
"content": "Is this (i.e. using the downside of something to make a new thing) not how many scientific discoveries were made? (i.e. the pacemaker which was accidentally inverted?)",
"parent_id": null,
"depth"... | 1,760,371,790.106339 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/09/18/blowing-up-shell-scripts/ | Blowing Up Shell Scripts | Bryan Cockfield | [
"Software Hacks"
] | [
"bash",
"code",
"explode",
"Go",
"one-liner",
"script",
"shell",
"sol",
"text",
"text editor"
] | One of the most universal experiences of any Linux or Unix user is working through a guide or handbook and coming across an almost unbelievably complex line of code meant to be executed with a shell. At the time of encountering a snippet like this it’s difficult to imagine any human ever having written it in the first place, but with some dedication it is possible to tease out what these small bits of code do when they’re typed into the terminal and run (unless it’s something like :(){ :|:& };: but that’s another story entirely).
[noperator] recently built a tool which helps users in this predicament understand these shell scripts
by expanding them into a more human-intelligible form.
The tool is named sol and does much more than expanding shell one-liners into a readable format. It also provides an interactive shell environment where the user can explore the exploded code in detail, modify it in any way they see fit, and collapse it back down to a single line so it can easily be sent to other users. It can be used with most of the major text editors as well as piped directly to standard input, and has a number of other options as well such as custom configurations and the ability to see non-standard bits of code that might not be compatible from one shell environment to another, as well as helping to translate those bits of code.
[noperator] has made the code available in the linked GitHub page for anyone curious about its use, and has a to-do list for future versions of the tool as well including adding support beyond bash. We’d definitely recommend a tool like this especially if you’re still relatively new to bash scripting (or shell scripting in general) and, as always, we’d just to remind everyone not to blindly copy and paste commands into their terminal windows. If you’re the type of person to go out on a limb and run crazy commands to see what they actually do, though,
make sure you’re at least logged into the right computer first
. | 24 | 10 | [
{
"comment_id": "8041393",
"author": "aki009",
"timestamp": "2024-09-19T01:17:57",
"content": "None of those terms define it as well. And where were you about terminology when hundreds of drones were being sent south of the border hitting everything randomly?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,... | 1,760,371,790.061609 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/09/18/upgraded-raster-laser-projector-goes-rgb/ | Upgraded Raster Laser Projector Goes RGB | Dave Rowntree | [
"Laser Hacks"
] | [
"laser",
"laser galvo",
"laser printer",
"mirror",
"projector",
"rgb",
"Teensy 4"
] | We’ve covered a scanning laser project by
Ben Make’s Everything
last year, and now he’s back with a significant update. [Ben]’s
latest project now offers a higher resolution and RGB lasers
. A couple of previous versions of the device used the same concept of a rotating segmented mirror synchronised to a pulsed laser diode to create scanlines. When projected onto a suitable surface, the distorted, pixelated characters looked quite funky, but there was clearly room for improvement.
More scanlines and a faster horizontal pixel rate
The previous device used slightly inclined mirrors to deflect the beam into scanlines, with one mirror per scanline limiting the vertical resolution. To improve resolution, the mirrors were replaced with identically aligned mirrors of the type used in laser printers for horizontal scanning. An off-the-shelf laser galvo was used for vertical scanning, allowing faster scanning due to its small deflection angle. This setup is quicker than then usual vector galvo application, as the smaller movements require less time to complete. Once the resolution improvement was in hand, the controller upgrade to a Teensy 4 gave more processing bandwidth than the previous Arduino and a consequent massive improvement in image clarity.
Finally, monochrome displays don’t look anywhere near as good as an RGB setup. [Ben] utilised a dedicated RGB laser setup since he had trouble sourcing the appropriate dichroic mirrors to match available lasers. This used four lasers (with
two
red ones) and the correct dichroic mirrors to combine each laser source into a single beam path, which was then sent to the galvo. [Ben] tried to find a DAC solution fast enough to drive the lasers for a proper colour-mixing input but ended up shelving that idea for now and sticking with direct on-off control. This resulted in a palette of just seven colours, but that’s still a lot better than monochrome.
The project’s execution is excellent, and care was taken to make it operate outdoors with a battery. Even with appropriate safety measures, you don’t really want to play with high-intensity lasers around the house!
Here’s the
previous version we covered
, a neat
DIY laser galvo using steppers
, and a much older but very cool
RGB vector projector
.
Thanks to [Chan] for the tip! | 10 | 3 | [
{
"comment_id": "8041379",
"author": "Paul",
"timestamp": "2024-09-19T00:19:12",
"content": "Analog still wins in this game.The jitter comes from the clock edges randomly aligning with the time the photointerrupter is triggered: you get an uncertainty of a whole clock period.The trick is you sync ev... | 1,760,371,791.12057 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/09/18/floss-weekly-episode-801-jbang-not-your-parents-java-anymore/ | FLOSS Weekly Episode 801: JBang — Not Your Parents Java Anymore | Jonathan Bennett | [
"Hackaday Columns",
"Podcasts",
"Slider"
] | [
"FLOSS Weekly",
"java",
"JBang"
] | This week
Jonathan Bennett
and Jeff Massie chat with Max Rydahl Andersen about JBang, the cross-platform tool to run Java as a system scripting language. That’s a bit harder than it sounds, particularly to take advantage of Java’s rich debugging capabilities and the ecosystem of libraries that are available. Tune in to get the details, as well as how polyglot files are instrumental to making JBang work!
https://www.jbang.dev/
https://maxandersen.github.io/getting-started-with-java-the-jbang-way/
https://xam.dk
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 | 12 | 5 | [
{
"comment_id": "8041346",
"author": "M",
"timestamp": "2024-09-18T21:23:34",
"content": "Sounds like a great way to get sued by Oracle. And I say that as a ZFS user.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "8041510",
"author": "Max andersen",
... | 1,760,371,790.794914 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/09/18/meet-the-winners-of-the-2024-tiny-games-contest/ | Meet The Winners Of The 2024 Tiny Games Contest | Tom Nardi | [
"contests",
"Hackaday Columns",
"Slider"
] | [
"2024 Tiny Games Challenge"
] | Over the years, we’ve figured out some pretty sure-fire ways to get hackers and makers motivated for contests. One of the best ways is to put arbitrary limits on different aspects of the project, such as how large it can be or how much power it can consume. Don’t believe us? Then just take a look at the entries of this year’s Tiny Games Contest.
Nearly 80 projects made it across the finish line this time, and our panel of judges have spent the last week or so going over each one to try and narrow it down to a handful of winners. We’ll start things off with the top three projects, each of which will be awarded a $150 gift certificate from our friends at DigiKey.
First: Sub-Surface Simon
While this contest saw a lot of excellent entries, we don’t think anyone is going to be surprised to see this one take the top spot. Earning an exceptionally rare perfect ten score from each of our judges,
Sub-Surface Simon from [alnwlsn]
grabbed onto the theme of this contest and ran like hell with it.
Exploiting the fact that many integrated circuits are actually far smaller than their external packages, [alnwlsn] milled away the inert plastic surrounding the DIP-14 version of the ATtiny84A, which left just enough room to install some LEDs and buttons. This means the complete game is housed within the boundaries of the chip itself — just plug it into a powered breadboard and get playing.
Second: Morse Quest
Coming in at second place is
Morse Quest, from [felix]
. Basically, [felix] took the classic text-based adventure game formula, and replaced the keyboard and monitor with a microswitch and an LED. Players not only need to correctly decode the flashing LED to figure out what the game is saying about their immediate environment, but they have to compose their response and key it in manually.
Always wanted to learn Morse code, but didn’t know how to get started? Well, this game probably isn’t it. While you can select the rate at which the game blinks out the text to make things a little easier on yourself, you’ll still need a pretty solid knowledge of Morse to explore very far.
Third: WS2812B Othello
Easily the most traditional game of the of the top three, this
handheld Othello
allows the player to challenge a computerized opponent on an 8×8 matrix of WS2812B LEDs. As the LED board is an off-the-shelf module, [Dave] was able to hide most of the main PCB’s electronics underneath it, giving the overall device a particularly clean look.
As nice as the hardware is, the software is equally impressive. Running on an 80 MHz STM32L412KBT6, [Dave] wrote the entire firmware without using any external libraries. Most of us would have been reaching for a common library just to get the hardware working, but he wrote everything from the button debounce routines to the actual logic by which the game is played.
Honorable Mentions
There’s no way we can pick just three of these incredible projects to showcase, so as usual, we have a few additional categories for entries that really stood out to the judges.
One Dimensional:
For this category we wanted to get people thinking about what they could do with a common addressable LED strip, and
T1Duino from [Andrea Trentini]
didn’t disappoint. This large-format game re-imagines
Tetris
in a single dimension by focusing on the colors of the falling blocks instead of their shapes. But we’ve also got to give credit to [senily64dx], who really thumbed their nose at this one.
Zero Dimensional PONG
recreates the classic game with just a single LED. The players are meant to interpret the changing brightness of the LED as it moving closer or farther away from them, and time their button presses accordingly.
The Classics:
This category was devoted to entries that brought back the iconic games of yesteryear, so it’s little surprise that the judges singled out this miniature
Space Invaders
arcade cabinet from [Nick Cranch]
as a prime example. Just one classic game not enough? Then take a look at the
μRetro from [bobricius]
. This gorgeous handheld uses ATtiny85 cartridges that let’s you swap between a collection of arcade standards.
The Controls:
Nintendo has spent the last couple of decades proving that how players interact with the hardware can be just as important as the games themselves, and these entries are no different.
Salsa ONE by [Alex]
is a minimalistic handheld that you play with just a single button, while
Blind Maze
from [penumbriel]
tasks the player with navigating an invisible maze using an interface consisting of a trio of buttons and LEDs.
Pocket Arcade:
Each judge agreed that, as far as being pocket-friendly, the
Wibraboy
was the project to beat. By repurposing the enclosure from a cheapo handheld game, [x3e] was able to give their DIY recreation a remarkably professional look. For those with even smaller pockets, the
Tiny OLED by [deʃhipu]
offers up classic gameplay in an exceptionally small footprint.
Fancy!:
Finally, this category was devoted to the most polished and professional looking builds. Among all the projects, the
LED Matrix Arcade from [Ryan Shill]
may be the most attractive of the bunch. With its vibrant 32×32 LED array and walnut enclosure, it’s a build we’d be proud to have on display at home. The all-digital
Mini Virtual Pinball Cabinet created by [mircemk]
was also a favorite for this category, as it does an excellent job of recreating the authentic pinball look with a sideways-mounted 17 inch monitor.
Shall We Play a Game?
There’s only so many projects we can call out individually, so we strongly recommend you head over to Hackaday.io and
browse all of the incredible entries into this contest
. There’s some truly impressive work in there, and we’re willing to bet you’ll find something in there that will help inspire your own projects.
We’d like to thank DigiKey for helping to make this contest possible, and of course the Hackaday community for consistently rising to our latest challenge. Speaking of which, you’ve still got some time before the deadline to submit your best
Simple
Supercon Add-On for our latest contest
. | 12 | 4 | [
{
"comment_id": "8041260",
"author": "0xdeadbeef",
"timestamp": "2024-09-18T17:34:02",
"content": "One of the best ways is to put arbitrary limits on different aspects of the project, such as how large it can be or how many power it can consume.‘How many power’? 😛",
"parent_id": null,
"dept... | 1,760,371,790.603071 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/09/18/airline-seats-are-for-dummies/ | Airline Seats Are For Dummies | Al Williams | [
"Transportation Hacks"
] | [
"airplane seat"
] | You normally don’t think a lot would go into the construction of a chair. However, when that chair is attached to a commercial jet plane, there’s a lot of technology that goes into making sure they are safe. According to a recent BBC article, testing involves
crash dummies and robot arms
.
Admittedly, these are first-class and business-class seats. Robots do repetitive mundane tasks like opening and closing the tray table many, many times. They also shoot the seats with crash dummies aboard at up to 16 Gs of acceleration. Just to put that into perspective, a jet pilot ejecting gets about the same amount of force. A MiG-35 pilot might experience 10 G.
We didn’t realize how big the airline seat industry is in Northern Ireland. Thompson, the company that has the lab in question, is only one of the companies in the country that builds seats. Apparently, the industry suffered from the global travel slowdown during the pandemic but is now bouncing back.
While people worry about robots taking jobs, we can’t imagine anyone wanting to spend all day returning their tray table to the upright and locked position repeatedly. We certainly don’t want to be 16 G crash dummies, either.
Crash dummies have a
long history
, of course. Be glad airliners don’t feature
ejector seats
. | 10 | 5 | [
{
"comment_id": "8041268",
"author": "Alphatek",
"timestamp": "2024-09-18T18:18:45",
"content": "“we can’t imagine anyone wanting to spend all day returning their tray table to the upright and locked position repeatedly”Try the kid sat behind me on my last flight.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth... | 1,760,371,790.8408 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/09/18/catching-the-boat-gamma-ray-bursts-and-the-brightest-of-all-time/ | Catching The BOAT: Gamma-Ray Bursts And The Brightest Of All Time | Dan Maloney | [
"Current Events",
"Featured",
"Original Art",
"Science",
"Slider"
] | [
"astronomy",
"gamma ray",
"GRB",
"hypernova",
"ionization",
"neutron star",
"satellite",
"scintillator",
"Supernova"
] | Down here at the bottom of our ocean of air, it’s easy to get complacent about the hazards our universe presents. We feel safe from the dangers of the vacuum of space, where radiation sizzles and rocks whizz around. In the same way that a catfish doesn’t much care what’s going on above the surface of his pond, so too are we content that our atmosphere will deflect, absorb, or incinerate just about anything that space throws our way.
Or will it? We all know that there are things out there in the solar system that are more than capable of wiping us out, and every day holds a non-zero chance that we’ll take the same ride the dinosaurs took 65 million years ago. But if that’s not enough to get you going, now we have to worry about
gamma-ray bursts
, searing blasts of energy crossing half the universe to arrive here and dump unimaginable amounts of energy on us, enough to not only be measurable by sensitive instruments in space but also to effect systems here on the ground, and in some cases, to physically alter our atmosphere.
Gamma-ray bursts are equal parts fascinating physics and terrifying science fiction. Here’s a look at the science behind them and the engineering that goes into detecting and studying them.
Collapsars and Neutron Stars
Although we now know that gamma-ray bursts are relatively common, it wasn’t all that long ago that we were ignorant of their existence, thanks in part to our thick, protective atmosphere. The discovery of GRBs had to wait for the Space Race to couple with Cold War paranoia, which resulted in Project Vela, a series of early US Air Force satellites designed in part to watch for Soviet compliance with the Partial Test Ban Treaty, which forbade everything except underground nuclear tests. In 1967, gamma ray detectors on satellites Vela 3 and Vela 4 saw a flash of gamma radiation that didn’t match the signature of any known nuclear weapon. Analysis of the data from these and subsequent flashes revealed that they came from space, and the race to understand these energetic cosmic outbursts was on.
Trust, but verify. Vela 4, designed to monitor Soviet nuclear testing, was among the first satellites to detect cosmic gamma-ray bursts. Source: ENERGY.GOV, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Gamma-ray bursts are the most energetic phenomena known, with energies that are almost unfathomable. Their extreme brightness, primarily as gamma rays but across the spectrum and including visible light, makes them some of the most distant objects ever observed. To put their energetic nature into perspective, a GRB in 2008, dubbed GRB 080319B, was bright enough in the visible part of the spectrum to just be visible to the naked eye even though it was 7.5 billion light years away. That’s more than halfway across the observable universe, 3,000 times farther away than the Andromeda galaxy, normally the farthest naked-eye visible object.
For all their energy, GRBs tend to be very short-lived. GRBs break down into two rough groups. Short GRBs last for less than about two seconds, with everything else falling into the long GRB category. About 70% of GRBs we see fall into the long category, but that might be due to the fact that the short bursts are harder to see. It could also be that the events that precipitate the long variety, hypernovae, or the collapse of extremely massive stars and the subsequent formation of rapidly spinning black holes, greatly outnumber the progenitor event for the short category of GRBs, which is the merging of binary neutron stars locked in a terminal death spiral.
The trouble is, the math doesn’t work out; neither of these mind-bogglingly energetic events could create a burst of gamma rays bright enough to be observed across half the universe. The light from such a collapse would spread out evenly in all directions, and the tyranny of the inverse square law would attenuate the signal into the background long before it reached us. Unless, of course, the gamma rays were somehow collimated. The current thinking is that a disk of rapidly spinning material called an accretion disk develops outside the hypernova or the neutron star merger. The magnetic field of this matter is tortured and twisted by its rapid rotation, with magnetic lines of flux getting tangled and torn until they break. This releases all the energy of the hypernova or neutron star merger in the form of gamma rays in two tightly focused jets aligned with the pole of rotation of the accretion disk. And if one of those two jets happens to be pointed our way, we’ll see the resulting GRB.
Crystals and Shadows
But how exactly do we detect gamma-ray bursts? The first trick is to get to space, or at least above the bulk of the atmosphere. Our atmosphere does a fantastic job shielding us from all forms of cosmic radiation, which is why the field of gamma-ray astronomy in general and the discovery of GRBs in particular had to wait until the 1960s. A substantial number of GRBs have been detected by gamma-ray detectors carried aloft on high-altitude balloons, especially in the early days, but most dedicated GRB observatories are now satellite-borne
Gamma-ray detection technology has advanced considerably since the days of Vela, but a lot of the tried and true technology is still used today. Scintillation detectors, for example, use crystals that release photons of visible light when gamma rays of a specific energy pass through them. The photons can then be amplified by photomultiplier tubes, resulting in a pulse of current proportional to the energy of the incident gamma ray. This is the technology used by the Gamma-ray Burst Monitor (GBM) aboard the Fermi Gamma-Ray Space Telescope, a satellite that was launched in 2008. Sensors with the GBT are mounted around the main chassis of Fermi, giving it a complete very of the sky. It consists of twelve sodium iodide detectors, each of which is directly coupled to a 12.7-cm diameter photomultiplier tube. Two additional sensors are made from cylindrical bismuth germanate scintillators, each of which is sandwiched between two photomultipliers. Together, the fourteen sensors cover from 8 keV to 30 MeV, and used in concert they can tell where in the sky a gamma-ray burst has occurred.
The coded aperture for Swift’s BAT. Each tiny lead square casts a unique shadow pattern on the array of cadmiun-zinc-telluride (CZT) ionization sensors, allowing an algorithm to work out the characteristics of the gamma rays falling on it. Source:
NASA
.
Ionization methods are also used as gamma-ray detectors. The Niel Gehrels Swift Observatory, a dedicated GRB hunting satellite that was launched in 2004, has an instrument known as the Burst Alert Telescope, or BAT. This instrument has a very large field of view and is intended to monitor a huge swath of sky. It uses 32,768 cadmium-zinc-telluride (CZT) detector elements, each 4 x 4 x 2 mm, to directly detect the passage of gamma rays. CZT is a direct-bandgap semiconductor in which electron-hole pairs are formed across an electric field when hit by ionizing radiation, producing a current pulse. The CZT array sits behind a fan-shaped coded aperture, which has thousands of thin lead tiles arranged in an array that looks a little like a QR code. Gamma rays hit the coded aperture first, casting a pattern on the CZT array below. The pattern is used to reconstruct the original properties of the radiation beam mathematically, since conventional mirrors and lenses don’t work with gamma radiation. The BAT is used to rapidly detect the location of a GRB and to determine if it’s something worth looking at. If it is, it rapidly slews the spacecraft to look at the burst with its other instruments and instantly informs other gamma observatories about the source so they can take a look too.
The B.O.A.T.
On October 9, 2022, both Swift and Fermi, along with dozens of other spacecraft and even some ground observatories, would get to witness a cataclysmically powerful gamma-ray burst. Bloodlessly named GRB 221009A but later dubbed “The BOAT,” for “brightest of all time,” the initial GRB lasted for an incredible ten minutes with a signal that remained detectable for hours. Coming from the direction of the constellation Sagittarius from a distance of 2.4 billion light years, the burst was powerful enough to saturate Fermi’s sensors and was ten times more powerful than any signal yet received by Swift.
The BOAT. A ten-hour time-lapse of data from the Fermi Large Area Telescope during GRB 221009A on October 8, 2022. Source:
NASA/DOE/Fermi LAT Collaboration
, Public domain
Almost everything about the BOAT is fascinating, and the superlatives are too many to list. The gamma-ray burst was so powerful that it showed up in the scientific data of spacecraft that aren’t even equipped with gamma-ray detectors, including orbiters at Mars and Voyager 1. Ground-based observatories noted the burst, too, with observatories in Russia and China noting very high-energy photons in the range of tens to hundreds of TeV arriving at their detectors.
The total energy released by GRB 221009A is hard to gauge with precision, mainly because it swamped the very instruments designed to measure it. Estimates range from 10
48
to 10
50
joules, either of which dwarfs the total output of the Sun over its entire 10 billion-year lifespan. So much energy was thrown in our direction in such a short timespan that even our own atmosphere was impacted. Lightning detectors in India and Germany were triggered by the burst, and the ionosphere suddenly started behaving as if a small solar flare had just occurred. Most surprising was that the ionospheric effects showed up on the daylight side of the Earth, swamping the usual dampening effect of the Sun.
When the dust had settled from the initial detection of GRB 221009A, the question remained: What happened to cause such an outburst? To answer that, the James Webb Space Telescope was tasked with peering into space, off in the direction of Sagittarius, where it found pretty much what was expected — the remains of a massive supernova. In fact, the supernova that spawned this GRB doesn’t appear to have been particularly special when compared to other supernovae from similarly massive stars, which leaves the question of how the BOAT got to be so powerful.
Does any of this mean that a gamma-ray burst is going to ablate our atmosphere and wipe us out next week? Probably not, and given that this recent outburst was estimated to be a one-in-10,000-year event, we’re probably good for a while. It seems likely that there’s plenty that we don’t yet understand about GRBs, and that the data from GRB 221009A will be pored over for decades to come. It could be that we just got lucky this time, both in that we were in the right place at the right time to see the BOAT, and that it didn’t incinerate us in the process. But given that on average we see one GRB per day somewhere in the sky, chances are good that we’ll have plenty of opportunities to study these remarkable events. | 12 | 5 | [
{
"comment_id": "8041214",
"author": "Tom",
"timestamp": "2024-09-18T14:40:40",
"content": "The energy released here is mind-boggling.Energy and mass are the same thing, right? E=m * c^2. If the energy was 10^50 Joules, then we can easily calculate the mass equivalent of that energy – 10^50 / (9 *... | 1,760,371,790.658176 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/09/18/bringing-the-horror-of-seaman-into-the-real-world/ | Bringing The Horror OfSeamanInto The Real World | Tom Nardi | [
"Games",
"Robots Hacks"
] | [
"animatronic",
"dreamcast",
"Seaman",
"vmu"
] | A little under 25 years ago, a particularly bizarre game was released for Sega’s Dreamcast. In actually, calling it a “game” might be something of a stretch. It was more of a pet simulator, where you need to feed and care for a virtual animal as it grows. Except rather than something like a dog or a rabbit, your pet is a talking fish with a human face that doesn’t seem to like you very much. Oh, and Leonard Nimoy is there too for some reason.
Most people in the world don’t even know this game ever existed, and frankly, their lives are all the better for it. But for those who lovingly cared for (or intentionally killed) one of these rude creatures back in the early 2000s, it’s an experience that sticks with you. Which we assume is why
[Robert Prest] decided to build this incredibly faithful physical recreation of
Seaman
.
The creature itself is a wireless animatronic that’s been fitted with several servos to operate not just its creepy human mouth, but its flippers, legs, and tail. [Robert] pulled the original speech clips from the game, and recreated most of the voice recognition prompts so he can converse with his pet monster. A Dreamcast controller is used to interact with the robo-seaman, but even that’s a bit of a hack. It’s actually just the shell of the controller which has been filled with new hardware, namely an ESP8266 and Nokia LCD that take the place of the original
Visual Memory Unit (VMU)
.
[Robert] went the extra mile and also recreated the tank the creature lives in. The front glass is actually a transparent display that can show game information or “water”, and there’s sonar sensors that can detect when somebody has reached into it. The original game’s interactive elements involved adjusting the temperature of the tank and feeding your growing abomination, which are represented in this physical incarnation. There’s even little 3D printed versions of the bugs (which incidentally
also
have human faces) raise as food for the creature.
While this might not be our ideal office decoration, but we’ve got to hand it to [Robert], he did a hell of job bringing
Seaman
to life. Now let’s just hope it doesn’t escape its tank and get into the wild. | 13 | 5 | [
{
"comment_id": "8041182",
"author": "TheDarkTiger",
"timestamp": "2024-09-18T12:57:54",
"content": "Awesome!I mean, talk about feature creep, but still, an awesome work on this project!",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "8041261",
"autho... | 1,760,371,791.012679 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/09/18/from-high-level-language-to-assembly/ | From High Level Language To Assembly | Al Williams | [
"Linux Hacks",
"Software Development"
] | [
"assembly",
"linux",
"x86-64"
] | If you cut your teeth on Z-80 assembly and have dabbled in other assembly languages, you might not find much mystery in creating programs using the next best thing to machine code. However, if you have only used high level languages, assembly can be somewhat daunting. [Shikaan] has an introductory article aimed to get you started at the “hello world” level of
x86-64 assembly language
. The second part is already up, too, and covers
control structures
.
You can argue that you may not need to know assembly language these days, and we’ll admit it’s certainly not as important as it used to be. However, there are unusual cases where you really need either the performance or the small footprint, which is only possible in assembly language. What’s more, it is super useful to be able to read assembly from your high-level tools when something goes wrong.
Of course, one of the problems is that each assembly language is different. For example, knowing that the x86 assembly doesn’t completely transfer to ARM instructions. However, in most cases, the general concepts apply, and it is usually fairly easy to learn your second, third, or fourth instruction set.
We’ve had our own
tutorials on this topic
. You can also debate if you should
learn assembly first or wait
, although in this case, the audience is people who waited. | 24 | 9 | [
{
"comment_id": "8041125",
"author": "Cricri",
"timestamp": "2024-09-18T08:29:24",
"content": "I don’t know about others, but I found compilers to be pretty darn optimised now.Bear in mind that I’m not a coder by trade, so no expert by any means, but last time I wrote some inline asm was in Turbo De... | 1,760,371,790.904481 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/09/16/keebin-with-kristina-the-one-with-the-mccool-typewriter/ | Keebin’ With Kristina: The One With The (Mc)Cool Typewriter | Kristina Panos | [
"Hackaday Columns",
"Peripherals Hacks",
"Slider"
] | [
"blue M&Ms",
"foot keyboard",
"machine learning",
"McCool typewriter",
"ortholinear",
"ortholinear keyboard",
"QMK",
"ring HID"
] | Image by [ambrush] via
Hackaday.IO
Okay, so this isn’t a traditional keyboard, but you can probably figure out why the
RuneRing
is here. Because it’s awesome! Now, let me give you the finer points.
Hugely inspired by both
ErgO
and Somatic, RuneRing is a machine learning-equipped wearable mouse-keyboard that has a configurable, onboard ML database that can be set up to detect any gesture.
Inside the ring is a BMI160 6-axis IMU that sends gesture data to the Seeed Studio nRF52840 mounted on the wrist. Everything is powered with an 80mAh Li-Po lifted from a broken pair of earbuds.
Instead of using a classifier neural network, RuneRing converts IMU data to points in 24-dimensional space. Detecting shapes is done with a statistical check. The result is a fast and highly versatile system that can detect a new shape with as few as five samples.
A Nexus of Keyboarding Ideas
Image by [Fraawlen-dev] via
GitHub
You might guess from a glance at
this experimental split keyboard
that [Fraawlen-dev] is left-handed, but that’s not the reason for the left-side arrow keys. [Fraawlen] sits sideways at the computer, left side facing the screen keyboard. In fact, that’s why most of the modifiers and media keys are over there as well.
The Nexus is [Fraawlen-dev]’s first split (and ortho), and it looks great in this ortholinear layout with a pinky stagger. This 3D-printable hand-wired keyboard is designed to work with as many keycap sets as possible. In fact, that’s what prompted this build — re-using existing keycaps. Under the hood are a couple of Pro Micros running the ever-popular
QMK
.
The awesome thing about designing something ultra-personal to you and then sharing it is that, inevitably, someone else down the line will find it useful enough to spin it off into something ultra-personal to
them
.
The Centerfold: Blue M&Ms In 1976? I’ll Allow It!
Image by [jacknthememestalk] via
reddit
Ahh, the classic Signature Plastics 1976 keycap set in all its chocolate-y glory. What can I say? I’m a sucker for candy colors, especially on keyboards. And candy. And now I want this keycap set all over again. You want to see mouthwatering keycaps?
Try two thumb clusters full of 1u and 2u caps without legends
. I’m drooling, here. Anyway, I’m not sure what keyboard that is, but the gold sure puts a wrapper on the whole candy thing.
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 McCool Typewriter Kind of Wasn’t So Cool
Image via
The Antikey Chop
Why? Well, because unfortunately,
by the time it finally went into production in 1909, it was already outdated
. That’s because it borrowed outdated technologies from other typewriters.
For just one year, before a fire spread from the factory next door causing an estimated $1M in damage, the McCool typewriter was produced and sold by the Acme-Keystone Manufacturing Company.
It was a bargain at $25, and fairly portable at 12 pounds. The double-shift keyboard typed a total of 84 characters. Borrowed mechanical innovations included a Blickensderfer-esque typewheel, a hammer like Commercial Visible, and a hammer extension arm like a Chicago.
Even so, it’s a righteous-looking machine. Then again, I’m a sucker for octagonal keys and portability.
ICYMI: Floorboard Is a Robust Pedal Keyboard
Image by [Wingletang] via
Instructables
This foot keyboard
is one after my own heart. If you’ll recall, a few years ago,
I made a keyboard out of a footstool
with the buttons perpendicular to the floor. I have to say that [Wingletang]’s Floorboard is a strictly better design.
For one thing, it’s made from sturdier stock. While my base is more of a step stool than anything else, [Wingletang] started an actual foot rest meant to hold both feet and switches for typing from dictation.
They settled on Ctrl, Alt, and Shift for the buttons, which are meant for guitar stomp pedals. I used 35mm arcade buttons, and while those have held up, they’re certainly no stomp switches. [Wingletang] added toppers to increase the area and make them easier and more comfortable to stomp.
I love that [Wingletang] printed a new compartment to hold everything, because it looks better than the original and of course has its various purposes, like cable management.
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
. | 2 | 2 | [
{
"comment_id": "8040625",
"author": "The Commenter Formerly Known As Ren",
"timestamp": "2024-09-16T17:11:46",
"content": "“I’m a sucker for candy colors, especially on keyboards. And candy.”Well, those of you who will be attending SuperCon now know a way to break the ice with Kristina!B^)",
"p... | 1,760,371,790.542013 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/09/16/real-time-hacking-of-a-supermarket-toy/ | Real Time Hacking Of A Supermarket Toy | Jenny List | [
"Toy Hacks"
] | [
"AH soundbox",
"hardware",
"supermarket"
] | Sometimes those moments arise when a new device comes on the market and hardware hackers immediately take to it. Over a few days, an observer can watch them reverse engineer it and have all sorts of fun making it do things it wasn’t intended to by the original manufacturer. We’re watching this happen in real time from afar this morning, as Dutch hackers
are snapping up a promotional kids’ game from a supermarket
(mixed Dutch/English, the site rejects Google Translate).
The Albert Heijn soundbox is a small handheld device with a barcode reader and a speaker, and as far as we can see it forms part of an animal identification card game. The cards have a barcode on the back, and sliding them through a reader causes a sample of that animal’s sound to be played. They’re attractively cheap, so of course
someone had to take a look inside
. So far the parts including the microcontroller have been identified, the ROM has been dumped and the audio reverse-engineered, and the barcode format has been cracked. Still to come are the insertion of custom audio or codes and arbitrary code execution, but knowing these hackers that won’t take long. If you’re Dutch, we suggest you head over to your local Albert Heijn with a few euros, and join in the fun.
European supermarkets can be fruitful places for the hardware hacker,
as we’ve shown you before. | 14 | 4 | [
{
"comment_id": "8040624",
"author": "xChris",
"timestamp": "2024-09-16T16:46:14",
"content": "(mixed Dutch/English, the site rejects Google Translate).you can translate it under firefox: select some text , right-mouse-btn [Translate selection in English], then on the translation box translate full... | 1,760,371,790.956972 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/09/16/hack-on-self-collecting-data/ | Hack On Self: Collecting Data | Arya Voronova | [
"Featured",
"Interest",
"Misc Hacks",
"Original Art",
"Slider"
] | [
"ADHD",
"attention tracking",
"data collection",
"sense of time"
] | A month ago, I’ve talked about using computers to hack on our day-to-day existence, specifically,
augmenting my sense of time
(or rather, lack thereof). Collecting data has been super helpful – and it’s best to automate it as much as possible. Furthermore, an augment can’t be annoying beyond the level you expect, and making it context-sensitive is important – the augment needs to understand whether it’s the right time to activate.
I want to talk about context sensitivity – it’s one of the aspects that brings us closest to the sci-fi future; currently, in some good ways and many bad ways. Your device needs to know what’s happening around it, which means that you need to give it data beyond what the augment itself is able to collect. Let me show you how you can extract fun insights from collecting data, with an example of a data source you can easily tap while on your computer, talk about implications of data collections, and why you should do it despite everything.
Started At The Workplace, Now We’re Here
Around 2018-2019, I was doing a fair bit of gig work – electronics, programming, electronics and programming, sometimes even programming and electronics. Of course, for some, I billed per hour, and I was asked to provide estimates. How many hours does it take for me to perform task X?
I decided to collect data on what I do on my computer – to make sure I can bill people as fairly as possible, and also to try and improve my estimate-making skills. Fortunately, I do a lot of my work on a laptop – surely I could monitor it very easily? Indeed, and unlike Microsoft Recall, neither LLMs nor people were harmed during this quest. What could be a proxy for “what I’m currently doing”? For a start, currently focused window names.
All these alt-tabs, it feels like a miracle I manage to write articles sometimes
Thankfully, my laptop runs Linux, a hacker-friendly OS. I quickly wrote a Python script that polls the currently focused window, writing every change into a logfile, each day a new file. A fair bit of disk activity, but nothing that my SSDs can’t handle. Initially, I just let the script run 24/7, writing its silly little logs every time I Alt-Tabbed or opened a new window, checking them manually when I needed to give a client a retrospective estimate.
I Alt-Tab a lot more than I expected, while somehow staying on the task course and making progress. Also, as soon as I started trying to sort log entries into types of activity, I was quickly reminded that categorizing data is a whole project in itself – it’s no wonder big companies outsource it to the Global South for pennies. In the end, I can’t tell you a lot about data processing here, but only because I ended up not bothering with it much, thinking that I would do it One Day – and I likely will mention it later on.
Collect Data, And Usecases Will Come
Instead, over time, I came up with other uses for this data. As it ran in an always-open commandline window, I could always scroll up and see the timestamps. Of course, this meant I could keep tabs on things like my gaming habits – at least, after the fact. I fall asleep with my laptop by my side, and usually my laptop is one of the first things I check when I wake up. Quickly, I learned to scroll through the data to figure out when I went to sleep, when I woke up, and check how long I slept.
seriously, check out D-Feet – turns out there’s so, so much you can find on DBus!
I also started tacking features on the side. One thing I added was monitoring media file playback, logging it alongside window title changes. Linux systems expose this information over Dbus, and there’s a ton of other useful stuff there too! And Dbus is way easier to work with than I’ve heard, especially when you use a GUI explorer like D-Feet to help you learn the ropes.
The original idea was figuring out how much time I was spending actively watching YouTube videos, as opposed to watching them passively in the background, and trying to notice trends. Another idea was to keep an independent YouTube watch history, since the YouTube-integrated one is notoriously unreliable. I never actually did either of these, but the data is there whenever I feel the need to do so.
Of course, having the main loop modifiable meant that I could add some hardcoded on-window-switch actions, too. For instance, at some point I was participating in a Discord community and I had trouble remembering a particular community rule. No big deal – I programmed the script to show me a notification whenever I switched into that server, reminding me of the rule.
whenever I wish, I have two years’ worth of data to learn from!
There is no shortage of information you can extract even from this simple data source. How much time do I spend talking to friends, and at which points in the day; how does that relate to my level of well-being? When I spend all-nighters on a project, how does the work graph look? Am I crashing by getting distracted into something unrelated, not asleep, but too sleepy to get up and get myself to bed? Can I estimate my focus levels at any point simply by measuring my Alt-Tab-bing frequency, then perhaps, measure my typing speed alongside and plot them together on a graph?
Window title switches turned out to be a decent proxy for “what I’m currently doing with my computer”. Plus, it gives me a wonderful hook, of the “if I do X, I need to remember to do Y” variety – there can never be enough of those! Moreover, it provides me with sizeable amounts of data about myself, data that I now store. Some of you will be iffy about collecting such data – there are some good reasons for it.
Taking Back Power
We emit information just like we emit heat. As long as we are alive, there’s always something being digitized; even your shed in the woods is being observed by a spy satellite. The Internet revolution has made information emissivity increase exponentially, a widespread phenomenon it now uses to grow itself, since now your data pays for online articles, songs, and YouTube videos. Now there are entire databanks containing various small parts of your personality, way more than you could ever have been theoretically comfortable with, enough to
track your moves before you’re aware you’re making them.
:¬)
Cloning is not yet here, but Internet already contains your clone – it can sure answer your security questions to your bank, with a fair bit of your voice to impersonate you while doing so, and not to mention all the little tidbits used to sway your purchase power and voting preferences alike. When it comes to protections, all we have is pretenses like “privacy policies” and
“data anonymization”
. EU is trying to move in the right direction through directives like GDPR, with Snowden discoveries
having left a deep mark,
but it’s barely enough and
not a consistent trend.
Just like with heat signatures, not taking care of your information signature gives you zero advantages and a formidable threat profile, but if you are tapped into it, you can protect people – or preserve dictatorships. Now, if anyone deserves to have power over yourself, it’s you, as opposed to an algorithm currently tracking your toilet paper purchases, which might be used tomorrow to catch weed smokers when it notices an increase in late night snack runs. It’s already likely to be
used to ramp up prices during an emergency, or just because of increased demand
– that’s where all these e-ink pricetags come into play!
Isn’t It Ridiculous?
Your data will be collected by others no matter your preference, and it will not be shared with you, so you have to collect it yourself. Once you have it, you can use your data to understand yourself better, become stronger by compensating for your weaknesses, help you build healthier relationships with others, living a more fulfilling and fun life overall. Collecting data also means knowing what others might collect and the power it provides, and tyis can help you fight and offset the damage you are bound to suffer because of datamining. Why are we not doing more of this, again?
We’ve got a lot to catch up to. Our conversations can
get
recorded
with the ever-present networked microphones and then datamined, but you don’t get a transcript of that one phonecall where you made a doctor’s appointment and forgot to note the appointment time. Your store knows how often you buy toilet paper, what’s with these loyalty cards we use to get discounts while linking our purchases to our identities, but they are not kind enough to send you a notification saying it might be time to restock. Ever looked back on a roadtrip you did and wished you had a GPS track saved? Your telco operators know your location well enough, now even better with 5G towers, but you won’t get a log. Oh, also, your data can benefit us all, in a non-creepy way.
Unlike police departments,
scientists are bound by ethics codes and can’t just buy data without the data owner’s consent – but science and scientific research is where our data could seriously shine. In fact, scientific research thrives when we can provide it with data we collected –
just
look
at
Apple
Health.
In particular, social sciences could really use a boost in available data, as reproducibility crises have no end in sight –
research does turn out to skew a certain way
when your survey respondents
are other social science students
.
Grab the power that you’re owed, collect your own data, store it safely, and see where it gets you – you will find good uses for it, whether it’s self-improvement, scientific research, or just building a motorized rolling chair that brings you to your bed as it notices you become too tired after hacking all night throughout. Speaking of which, my clock tells me it’s 5 AM.
Works, Helps, Grows
The code is on GitHub, for whatever purposes. This kind of program is a useful data source, and you could add it into other things you might want to build. This year, I slapped some websocket server code over the window monitoring code – now, other programs on my computer can connect to the websocket server, listen to messages, making decisions based on my currently open windows and currently playing media. If you want to start tracking your computer activity right now, there are some
promising
programs
you should consider –
ActivityWatch looks really nice
in particular.
I have plans for computer activity tracking beyond today – from tracking typing on the keyboard, to condensing this data into ongoing activity summaries. When storing data you collect, make sure you include a version number from the start and increment it on every data format change. You will improve upon your data formats and you will want to parse them all, and you’ll be thankful for having a version number to refer to.
The GitHub-published portion is currently being used for a bigger project, where the window monitoring code plays a crucial part. Specifically, I wanted to write a companion program that would help me stay on track when working on specific projects on my laptop. In a week’s time, I will show you that program, talk about how I’ve come to create it and how it hooks into my brain, how much it helps me in the end, share the code, and give you yet another heap of cool things I’ve learned.
What other kinds of data could one collect? | 13 | 8 | [
{
"comment_id": "8040575",
"author": "zoenagy3466",
"timestamp": "2024-09-16T14:11:09",
"content": "Start measuring life and it becomes an chore.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "8040623",
"author": "LowCarbLowSugarAllNutrients",
... | 1,760,371,791.067148 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/09/16/hack-your-eyesight-with-high-tech-bifocals/ | Hack Your Eyesight With High Tech Bifocals | Al Williams | [
"Medical Hacks",
"Misc Hacks"
] | [
"bifocals",
"eyeglasses",
"progressive lenses"
] | As we get older, our eyes get worse. That’s just a fact of life. It is a rite of passage the first time you leave the eye doctor with a script for “progressive” lenses which are just fancy bifocals. However, a
new high-tech version of bifocals promises you better vision
, but with a slight drawback, as [Sherri L. Smith] found.
Remember how users of Google Glass earned the nickname “glassholes?” Well, these new bifocals make Google Glass look like a fashion statement. If you are too young to need them, bifocals account for the fact that your eyes need different kinds of help when you look close up (like soldering) or far away (like at an antenna up on a roof). A true bifocal has two lenses and you quickly learn to look down at anything close up and up to see things far away. Progressives work the same, but they transition between the two settings instead of having a discrete mini lens at the bottom.
The new glasses, the ViXion01 change based on what you are looking for. They measure range and adjust accordingly. For $555, or a monthly rental, you can wear what looks like a prototype for a Star Trek visor and let it deduce what you are looking at and change its lenses accordingly.
Of course, this takes batteries that last about ten hours. It also requires medical approval to be real glasses and it doesn’t have that, yet. Honestly, if they worked well and didn’t look so dorky, the real use case might be allowing your eye doctor to immediately download a new setting as your vision changes. How about you? How much odd headgear are you willing to wear in public and why?
Glasses have a
long strange history
. While a university prototype we saw earlier was not likely to win fashion awards,
they did look better than these
. Maybe. | 32 | 14 | [
{
"comment_id": "8040519",
"author": "ca_heckler",
"timestamp": "2024-09-16T12:45:52",
"content": "There’s an even bigger (or smaller?) drawback: it appears that the active lens is just that tiny thing right in front of the the field of view, which means that you will have lots of trouble with later... | 1,760,371,791.222347 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/09/16/usagi-electrics-paper-tape-reader-is-ready-to-hop-with-the-tube-computer/ | Usagi Electric’s Paper Tape Reader Is Ready To Hop With The Tube Computer | Maya Posch | [
"Retrocomputing"
] | [
"paper tape",
"punched tape",
"reader",
"retrocomputing"
] | After previously working out a suitable approach to create a period-correct paper tape reader for his tube-based, MC14500B processor-inspired computer, [David Lovett] over at the
Usagi Electric
farm is back with a
video on how he made a working tape reader
.
The assembled paper tape reader as seen from the front with tape inserted. (Credit: David Lovett, Usage Electric, YouTube)
The tape reader’s purpose is to feed data into the tube-based computer, which for this computer system with its lack of storage memory means that the instructions are fed into the system directly, with the tape also providing the clock signal with a constant row of holes in the tape.
Starting the tape reader build, [David] opted to mill the structural part out of aluminum, which is where a lot of machining relearning takes place. Ultimately he got the parts machined to the paper design specs, with v-grooves for the photodiodes to fit into and a piece to clamp them down. On top of this is placed a part with holes that line up with the photodiodes.
Another alignment piece is added to hold the tape down on the reader while letting light through onto the tape via a slot. After a test assembly [David] was dismayed that due to tolerance issues he cracked two photodiodes within the v-groove clamp, which was a hard lesson with these expensive (and rare) photodiodes.
Although tolerances were somewhat off, [David] is confident that this aluminum machined reader will work once he has it mounted up. Feeding the tape is a problem that is still to be solved. [David] is looking for ideas and suggestions for a good approach within the limitations that he’s working with. At the video’s end, he mentions learning FreeCAD and 3D printing parts in the future. That would probably not be period-correct in this situation, but might be something he could get away with for some applications within the retrocomputing space.
We
covered the first video
and the thought process behind picking small (1.8 mm diameter) photodiodes as a period-correct tape hole sensor for a 1950s-era computing system, like the 1950s Bendix G-15 that [David] is currently restoring. | 25 | 9 | [
{
"comment_id": "8040393",
"author": "Karl",
"timestamp": "2024-09-16T09:05:55",
"content": "I’m not sure why not opt for SMD photodiodes and SMD IR LEDs, but from a purist standpoint a CNC milled block and retro photodiodes makes more sense. It was a nice article and interesting video!It just took ... | 1,760,371,791.443191 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/09/15/microwave-forge-casts-the-sinking-est-benchy-ever/ | Microwave Forge Casts The Sinking-est Benchy Ever | Dan Maloney | [
"3d Printer hacks"
] | [
"cast iron",
"casting",
"ceramic",
"forging",
"Kapton",
"kiln",
"metal",
"microwave",
"silicon carbide",
"sodium silicate"
] | As a test artifact, 3DBenchy does a pretty good job of making sure your 3D printer is up to scratch. As an exemplar of naval architecture, though — well, let’s just say that if it weren’t for the trapped air in the infilled areas, most Benchy prints wouldn’t float at all. About the only way to make Benchy less seaworthy would be to make it out of cast iron.
Challenge accepted
.
We’ve grown accustomed to seeing [Denny] over at “Shake the Future” on YouTube using his
microwave-powered kilns
to cast all sorts of metal, but this time he puts his skill and experience to melting iron. For those not in the know, he uses standard consumer-grade microwave ovens to heat kilns made from ceramic fiber and lots of Kapton tape, which hold silicon carbide crucibles that get really, really hot under the RF onslaught. It works surprisingly well, especially considering he does it all on an apartment balcony.
For this casting job, he printed a Benchy model from PLA and made a casting mold from finely ground silicon carbide blasting medium mixed with a little sodium silicate, or water glass. His raw material was a busted-up barbell weight, which melted remarkably well in the kiln. The first pour appeared to go well, but the metal didn’t quite make it all the way to the tip of Benchy’s funnel. Round two was a little more exciting, with a cracked crucible and spilled molten metal. The third time was a charm, though, with a nice pour and complete mold filling thanks to the vibrations of a reciprocating saw.
After a little fettling and a saltwater bath to achieve the appropriate patina, [Denny] built a neat little Benchy tableau using microwave-melted blue glass as a stand-in for water. It highlights the versatility of his method, which really seems like a game-changer for anyone who wants to get into home forging without the overhead of a proper propane or oil-fired furnace. | 7 | 3 | [
{
"comment_id": "8040580",
"author": "Reg",
"timestamp": "2024-09-16T14:19:02",
"content": "A “forge” heats metal for forging, the process of deforming metal which has been heated until plastic.Melting and casting metal is done in a “foundry”.Both involve hot metal, but that’s all they have in commo... | 1,760,371,791.314872 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/09/15/exploring-tapto-nfc-inegration-on-the-mister/ | Exploring TapTo NFC Integration On The MiSTer | Dave Rowntree | [
"Games",
"Retrocomputing"
] | [
"Amiibo",
"c64",
"fpga",
"MiSTER",
"NFC",
"TapTo",
"TeensyROM"
] | [Ken] from the YouTube channel
What’s Ken
Making
is
back with
another MiSTer video
detailing the
TapTo project
and its integration into MiSTer.
MiSTer,
as some may recall, is a set of FPGA images and a supporting ecosystem for the
Terasic DE10-Nano FPGA board
, which hosts the very capable Altera Cyclone V FPGA.
The TeensyROM C64 cart supports TapTo
The concept behind TapTo is to use NFC cards, stickers, and other such objects to launch games and particular key sequences. This allows an NFC card to be programmed with the required FPGA core and game image. The TapTo service runs on the MiSTer, waiting for NFC events and launching the appropriate actions when it reads a card. [Ken] demonstrates many such usage scenarios, from launching games quickly and easily with a physical ‘game card’ to adding arcade credits and even activating cheat codes.
As [Ken] points out, this opens some exciting possibilities concerning physical interactivity and would be a real bonus for people less able-bodied to access these gaming systems. It was fun to see how the
Nintendo Amiibo figures
and some neat integration projects like the dummy floppy disk drive could be used.
TapTo is a software project primarily for the MiSTer system, but ports are underway for Windows, the MiSTex
, and there’s a working Commodore 64 game loader using the
TeensyROM,
which supports TapTo. For more information, check out the TapTo project
GitHub page
.
We’ve
covered the MiSTer
a few times before, but boy, do we have a lot of NFC hacks. Here’s an
NFC ring
and a
DIY NFC
tag,
just for starters.
Thanks to [Stephen Walters] for the tip! | 14 | 7 | [
{
"comment_id": "8040199",
"author": "UT",
"timestamp": "2024-09-16T02:37:45",
"content": "“This allows an NFC card to be programmed with the required FPGA core and game image.” How on earth is there enough storage on a NFC card to store a FPGA bitstream and a game iso? And wouldn’t it take foreve... | 1,760,371,791.375104 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/09/15/hackaday-links-september-15-2024/ | Hackaday Links: September 15, 2024 | Dan Maloney | [
"Hackaday Columns",
"Hackaday links",
"Slider"
] | [
"5g",
"avian",
"CTIA",
"data",
"electrocution",
"fashion",
"flying robot",
"gpu",
"hackaday links",
"humanoid",
"mitigation",
"purse",
"wearable",
"wildfires",
"wildlife",
"wireless"
] | A quick look around at any coffee shop, city sidewalk, or sadly, even at a traffic light will tell you that people are on their phones a lot. But exactly how much is that? For Americans in 2023, it was
a mind-boggling 100 trillion megabytes
, according to the wireless industry lobbying association CTIA. The group doesn’t discuss their methodology in the
press release
, so it’s a little hard to make judgments on that number’s veracity, or the other numbers they bandy about, such as the 80% increase in data usage since 2021, or the fact that 40% of data is now going over 5G connections. Some of the numbers are more than a little questionable, too, such as the claim that 330 million Americans (out of a current estimate of 345.8 million people) are covered by one or more 5G networks. Even if you figure that most 5G installations are in densely populated urban areas, 95% coverage seems implausible given that in 2020,
57.5 million people
lived in rural areas of the USA. Regardless of the details, it remains that our networks are positively humming with data, and keeping things running is no mean feat.
If you’ve ever wondered what one does with a degree in wildlife biology, look no further than
a study that looks into “avian-caused ignitions” of wildfires
. The study was led by Taylor Barnes, a wildlife biologist and GIS specialist who works for a civil engineering firm, and concludes that some utility poles are 5 to 8 times more likely to spark a wildfire than the average pole due to “thermal events” following electrocution of a bird, squirrel, bear, or
idiot
. Unfortunately, the paper is paywalled, so there’s no information on methodology, but we’re guessing a grad student or intern spent a summer collecting animal carcasses from beneath power poles. It’s actually very valuable work since it informs decisions on where to direct wildlife mitigation efforts that potentially reduce the number of service outages and wildfires, but it’s still kinda funny.
From the “How to get rid of a lot of money in a hurry” files comes a story of
a bad GPU made into an incredibly unattractive purse
. About the only thing good about the offering, which consists of a GeForce GT 730 video card stuffed into a clear plastic box with a gold(ish) chain attached, is the price of $1,024. The completely un-dodgy
GPUStore Shopify site
also lists a purse fashioned from an NVIDIA H100 Tensor Core GPU for a cool $65,536. At least somebody knows about base two.
And finally, if you’ve struggled with the question of what humanoid robots bring to the table, chances are pretty good that
adding the ability to fly with four jet engines
isn’t going to make things much clearer. But for some reason, a group from the Italian Institute of Technology is working on the problem of “aerial humanoid robotics” with a cherub-faced bot dubbed iRonCub. The diminutive robot is only about 70 kilograms, which includes the four jet engines generating a total of 1,000 newtons of thrust. Applications for the flying baby robot are mostly left to the imagination, although there is a vague reference to “search and rescue” applications; we’re not sure about you, but if we’re lost in the woods and half-crazed from hunger and exposure, a baby descending from the sky on a 600° plume of exhaust might not be the most comforting sight. | 10 | 5 | [
{
"comment_id": "8040172",
"author": "Hirudinea",
"timestamp": "2024-09-15T23:50:02",
"content": "OK, what is the Italian Institute of Technology doing to Astro Boy!?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "8040189",
"author": "TG",
"t... | 1,760,371,791.95389 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/09/15/archiving-data-on-paper-using-2d-images/ | Archiving Data On Paper Using 2D Images | Dave Rowntree | [
"Software Hacks"
] | [
"archiving",
"data coding",
"error correction",
"FEC",
"golay code",
"hamming distance",
"laser printer",
"qr code",
"scanner"
] | It seems like only yesterday we covered a project using QR codes to archive data on paper (OK, it was last Thursday),
so here’s another way to do it
, this time with a dedicated codec using the full page. Optar or OPTical ARchiver is a project capable of squeezing a whopping 200 Kb of data onto a single A4 sheet of paper, with writing and reading achieved with a standard laser printer and a scanner. It’s a bit harder than you might think to get that much data on the page, given that even a 600 DPI printer can’t reliably place every dot each time. Additionally, paper is rarely uniform at the microscopic scale, so Optar utilizes a forward error-correcting coding scheme to cater for a little irregularity in both printing and scanning.
The
error-correcting scheme selected was an Extended
Golay code
(24, 12, 8), which, interestingly,
was also used for image transmission by the NASA Voyager 1 and 2 missions. In information theory terms, this scheme has a minimum
Hamming Distance
of 8, giving
detection
of up to seven bit errors. This Golay code implementation is capable of
correcting
three-bit errors in each 24-bit block, with 12 bits available for payload. That’s what the numbers in those brackets mean.
Another interesting problem is paper stretch during printing. A laser printer works by feeding the paper around rollers, some of which are heated. As a printer wears or gets dirty, the friction coefficient along the rollers can vary, leading to twisting and stretching of the paper during the printing process. Water absorbed by the paper can also lead to distortion. To compensate for these effects, Optar regularly inserts calibration targets throughout the bit image, which are used to locally resynchronize the decoding process as the image is processed. This is roughly similar to how the alignment patterns work within larger QR codes. Finally, similar to the position detection targets (those square bits) in QR codes, Optar uses a two-pixel-wide border around the bit image. The border is used to align to the corners well enough to locate the rows of bits to be decoded.
In the distant past of last week, we covered a
similar project that uses QR codes
. This got us thinking about
how QR codes work
, and even if
encoding capacity can be increased using more colors than just black and white
?
Thanks to [Petr] for the tip! | 44 | 18 | [
{
"comment_id": "8040143",
"author": "Paul",
"timestamp": "2024-09-15T20:44:52",
"content": "Hmm. Given that it takes 8 Mb to render a page at 300 dpi, 200 kb seems awfully poor efficiency.TFA says they combine the 600 dpi print resolution 3×3 to make 200 dpi, so 3.5 Mb of ‘real’ data.Ahh, TFA then... | 1,760,371,791.806373 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/09/15/an-80386-upgrade-deal-and-intel-486-competitor-the-cyrix-cx486dlc/ | An 80386 Upgrade Deal And Intel 486 Competitor: The Cyrix Cx486DLC | Maya Posch | [
"Retrocomputing"
] | [
"Cyrix",
"Intel 486"
] | The x86 CPU landscape of the 1980s and 1990s was competitive in a way that probably seems rather alien to anyone used to the duopoly that exists today between AMD and Intel. At one point in time, Cyrix was a major player, who mostly sought to provide a good deal that would undercut Intel. One such attempt was the Cx486DLC and the related Tx486DLC by Texas Instruments. These are interesting because they fit in a standard 386DX mainboard, are faster than a 386 CPU and add i486 instructions. Check your mainboard though, as these parts require a mainboard that supports them.
This is something that [Bits und Bolts] over at YouTube
discovered as well
when poking at a TX486DLC (TI486DLC) CPU. The Ti version of the Cyrix
Cx486DLC
CPU increases the 1 kB L1 cache to 8 kB but is otherwise essentially the same. He found the CPU and the mainboard in the trash and decided to adopt it. After removing the very dead battery from the
Jamicon KMC-40A
Baby AT mainboard, the mainboard was found to be in good working order. The system fired right up with the Ti CPU, some RAM, and a video card installed.
That’s when the excitement began, as although the mainboard is ‘Cyrix-aware’, its BIOS support is somewhat buggy. Although it technically will beat the living tar out of a 386, the Speedsys benchmark utility was crashing because the internal L1 cache wasn’t being enabled properly. Fixing the problem required an external Cyrix utility application. These issues were why so few people were interested in bolt-on solutions. The sentiment extended to Intel with their ill-fated
Pentium OverDrive
products.
For enthusiasts looking for a good deal, they were an exciting option, but Intel took offense to Cyrix barging into the x86 CPU market without a negotiated license. Cyrix instead utilized reverse engineering to make their own x86-compatible designs. This included their later 5×86 and 6×86 CPUs. After a
series of lawsuits
Cyrix was merged into National Semiconductor and later sold to AMD, who sold Cyrix’s latest designs under the Geode name before discontinuing it in 2019. | 12 | 5 | [
{
"comment_id": "8040092",
"author": "Nick",
"timestamp": "2024-09-15T17:26:19",
"content": "AMD didn’t purchase Cyrix. VIA Technologies picked up Cyrix, and Centaur with their WinChips within in the same year.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "... | 1,760,371,791.90481 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/09/15/g4-mac-mini-is-a-wolf-in-apple-iic-clothing/ | G4 Mac Mini Is A Wolf In Apple IIc Clothing | Navarre Bartz | [
"Mac Hacks"
] | [
"Apple IIc",
"CRT display",
"g4",
"mac mini",
"restomod"
] | Restomods let us relive some of the glory days of industrial design with internals that would blow the socks off the original device. [Mental Hygiene] decided to update an
Apple
II
c with a G4 brain
.
Starting with a broken
II
c, they pulled the internals, including the venerable 6502, and transplanted the parts from a G4 Mac mini into the case. There was plenty of room for the small desktop and its power supply. We love how they were able to repurpose the 5 1/4″ floppy access on the side of the
II
c as a DVD drive.
The original keyboard was adapted with an Arduino Teensy into a USB unit for the mini, but the internals of the mouse were replaced with a modern USB laser mouse running the signals over the original connector. What really sells this particular restomod is the “VGA adapter that outputs monochrome NTSC via RCA” allowing a vintage Apple CRT to make this look like a device that
somehow upgraded all the way to OSX
.
This mod looks to be from 2012, so we’re wondering if it’s time someone did this with an Apple Silicon mini? We’ve previously covered
a few
different
minis inside G4 iMacs
. We’ve even seen someone tackle the
Compact Macintosh with an iPad
mini. | 4 | 3 | [
{
"comment_id": "8040097",
"author": "cuvtixo",
"timestamp": "2024-09-15T17:33:04",
"content": "um, it’s a 65C02, perhaps that’s a bit pedantic, but it was fairly important for Western Design Center (WDC), which is sill around, offering a variety of updated chips based on 6502, and cores for FPGA.",... | 1,760,371,791.853222 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/09/15/an-espresso-machine-for-the-diy-crowd/ | An Espresso Machine For The DIY Crowd | Donald Papp | [
"cooking hacks"
] | [
"coffee",
"diy",
"espresso"
] | Want to build your own espresso machine, complete with open-source software to drive it? The
diyPresso
might be right up your alley.
diyPresso parts, laid out and ready for assembly.
It might not be the cheapest road to obtaining an espresso machine, but it’s probably the most economical way to turn high-quality components (including a custom-designed boiler) and sensors into a machine of a proven design.
Coffee and the machines that turn it into a delicious beverage are fertile ground for the type of folk who like to measure, modify, and optimize. We’ve seen DIY
roasters
,
grinders
, and even a
manual lever espresso machine
. There are also many efforts at modifying existing machines with
improved software-driven controls
but this is the first time we’ve seen such a focused effort at bringing the DIY angle to a ground-up espresso machine specifically offered as a kit.
Curious to know more? Browse the
assembly manual
or take a peek at the software’s
GitHub repository
. You might feel some ideas start to flow for your next coffee hack. | 29 | 10 | [
{
"comment_id": "8040054",
"author": "Neverm|nd",
"timestamp": "2024-09-15T12:19:45",
"content": "Yeah, except it costs a small fortune….",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "8040055",
"author": "Neverm|nd",
"timestamp": "2024-09-15T12:20:23"... | 1,760,371,791.723101 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/09/15/non-planar-ironing-makes-smooth-prints/ | Non-planar Ironing Makes Smooth Prints | Al Williams | [
"3d Printer hacks"
] | [
"non-planar 3D printing",
"print smoothing"
] | If you want to smooth out the top surface of your FDM 3D prints, you can try ironing. Many slicers allow you to set this option, which drags the hot printhead through the top surface with a tiny bit of plastic to smooth out the extrusion lines. However, a recent paper explains how
non-planar ironing can provide a better result
.
Usually, non-planar printing requires rotating the print bed in addition to the normal linear motion. However, you can also manipulate the layer height in real time to create bulges in the 3D print. This is the approach taken by
Curvislicer
, which shares authors with this paper. Another approach is to build a part conventionally but add non-planar printing to the last few layers.
The non-planar ironing is a variation of the latter technique. After slicing, the top layer of g-code passes through a
Python script
. The results on a test object look very impressive. We’d be interested to see how some more complex shapes look, though.
Of course, it looks like all you need is an ordinary printer, a modified copy of Slic3r, and the script, so if you try it yourself, let us know what you think. It would be great to smooth prints without extra
chemicals
and post-processing. While you can get good results, it is a
lot of work
. | 14 | 6 | [
{
"comment_id": "8040031",
"author": "fho",
"timestamp": "2024-09-15T09:04:27",
"content": "Wonder if you could finish your part, change the nozzle for a “hot ball end” and run that over the surface again.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "80400... | 1,760,371,792.090277 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/09/15/watch-nasas-solar-sail-reflect-brightly-in-the-night-sky/ | Watch NASA’s Solar Sail Reflect Brightly In The Night Sky | Donald Papp | [
"News",
"Science",
"Space"
] | [
"ACS3",
"nasa",
"solar sail"
] | NASA’s ACS3 (Advanced Composite Solar Sail System) is currently fully deployed in low Earth orbit, and
stargazers can spot it if they know what to look for
. It’s actually one of the brightest things in the night sky. When the conditions are right, anyway.
ACS3’s sail is as thin as it is big.
What conditions are those? Orientation, mostly. ACS3 is currently tumbling across the sky while NASA takes measurements about how it acts and moves. Once that’s done, the spacecraft will be stabilized. For now, it means that visibility depends on the ACS’s orientation relative to someone on the ground. At it’s brightest, it appears as bright as Sirius, the brightest star in the night sky.
ACS3 is part of NASA’s analysis and testing of solar sail technology for use in future missions. Solar sails represent a way of using reflected photons (from sunlight, but also possibly from a giant laser) for propulsion.
This perhaps doesn’t have much in the way of raw energy compared to traditional thrusters, but offers low cost and high efficiency (not to mention considerably lower complexity and weight) compared to propellant-based solutions. That makes it very worth investigating. Solar sail technology aims to
send a probe to Alpha Centauri
within the next twenty years.
Want to try to spot ACS3 with your own eyes? There’s a
NASA app
that can alert you to sighting opportunities in your local time and region, and even guide you toward the right region of the sky to look. Check it out! | 14 | 8 | [
{
"comment_id": "8040032",
"author": "Stephen",
"timestamp": "2024-09-15T09:06:02",
"content": "“to send a probe to Alpha Centauri in the next twenty years.”And how long will it take to get there? Centuries? Is there any hope that it will still be functioning after all that time?",
"parent_id": ... | 1,760,371,792.147068 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/09/14/a-1930s-ham-station/ | A 1930s Ham Station | Al Williams | [
"Wireless Hacks"
] | [
"1930's vintage",
"ham radio",
"vintage"
] | [Mikrowave1] wanted to build an authentic 1930s-style ham radio station that was portable. He’s already done a regenerative receiver, but now he’s starting on
a tube transmitter
that runs on batteries. He’s settled on a popular design for the time, a Jones push-pull transmitter. Despite the tubes, it will only put out a few watts, which is probably good for the batteries which, at the time, wouldn’t have been like modern batteries. You can see the kickoff video below.
According to the video, these kinds of radios were popular with expeditions to exotic parts of the world. He takes a nostalgic look back at some of the radios and antennas used in some of those expeditions.
The Jones oscillator originates with [Frank Jones, W6AJF] and was quite popular in the day, as he was well-known in ham radio circles then. Normally, these took a dual triode and a crystal along with some passive components. In this case, though, the transmitter will use two type 30 tubes. If you missed the
series on the receiver
, that’ll give you something to watch while you wait for the next installment on the transmitter.
We are excited to see — and maybe hear — this station on the air. Of course, you can
build simple gear today
, too. You can only wonder what [Frank Jones] would think of
modern software-defined radios
. | 11 | 8 | [
{
"comment_id": "8039882",
"author": "wb7ond",
"timestamp": "2024-09-14T11:06:39",
"content": "There was a memorial “museum” of sorts called “Scotts Hut” that was the original structure. It is full of artifacts from the expedition. Not sure if there was a radio or not. But lots of food contain... | 1,760,371,792.194637 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/09/13/player-ukulele-pulls-your-strings/ | Player Ukulele Pulls Your Strings | Al Williams | [
"Musical Hacks"
] | [
"solenoid",
"ukulele"
] | Automated musical instruments aren’t a new idea. From water chimes to player pianos, they’ve been around for a while. But we can’t remember the last time we saw a player ukulele. [Zeroshot]
shows us one
, though, and it uses an Arduino. You can see and hear it in the video below.
Honestly, with all the stepper motors, linear rails, and belts, we thought it looked like a 3D printer, at least up at the business end. [Zeroshot] thought it would be easier to build a robot than to actually learn to play the instrument. We aren’t sure we agree.
The first problem was automating both picking strings and strumming. Then, you needed a way to press down on the strings at each fret. Solenoids can act like your fingers. With the mechanics in place, it is all software, right? There were quite a few unexpected little hardware wrinkles.
The solenoids don’t move along the fretboard, so it limits the range a bit. Also, the mechanical noises sometimes seem to drown out the instrument, but it does work. Kind of. We don’t think we are going to see AI buskers anytime soon.
Don’t have a ukulele? Do you have a
GameBoy
? If you are building an automated ukulele, you might as well
add LEDs
. | 6 | 6 | [
{
"comment_id": "8039868",
"author": "tadpole",
"timestamp": "2024-09-14T08:12:39",
"content": "All I can say is that now that you have released this video, you best be prepared for the response when the music industry floods you with contract offers. This is nothing less than revolutionary. Well do... | 1,760,371,792.238601 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/09/13/supercon-2024-last-call-for-display-tech-exhibit/ | Supercon 2024: Last Call For Display Tech Exhibit | Tom Nardi | [
"cons",
"Parts"
] | [
"2024 Hackaday Supercon",
"DesignLab",
"displays",
"exhibit"
] | During this year’s Hackaday Supercon, the Supplyframe DesignLab will be playing host to a unique exhibit that catalogs the evolution of display technology. That means showcasing the best and most interesting examples they can find, from the vintage to the ultra-modern. Where are all these wonderful toys coming from, you might ask? Why, the Hackaday community, of course.
This is a rare chance to show off your prized gadgetry to a captive audience of hackers and makers. Whether it’s a custom display you’ve created or some gonzo piece of hardware you’ve been holding onto for years, now’s the time to haul it out. However, there are only a few days left to
submit your display for potential inclusion
, so if you’ve got something you want the Hackaday community to see, make sure you fill out the form before the September 16th deadline. That’s Monday, if you were wondering.
The folks at the DesignLab tell us they’ve already got some very cool pieces of hardware lined up, many of which readers will recognize from these pages. We’re eager to get up close and personal with some of these incredible creations we’ve covered over the years, and we’re willing to bet many of the Supercon attendees will, too.
While we don’t want to give away too much, here’s a quick look at a couple of the displays currently slated for exhibition:
The More the Merrier
While there are some truly gorgeous examples lined up for the November exhibit, there are still a few gaps in the collection we’d love to see addressed. If you’ve got any of the following that you’d like to show off, please don’t hesitate to get in touch:
Unique LCDs (I.E. Tiger handhelds)
Vintage Displays
CRTs (All Types)
Plasma Displays
Nixie Clocks/Displays
Anything Custom Built
Video Synthesizers
For some of those, like CRTs, submissions would ideally come from the Southern California area. But in general, submissions from all over the globe are welcome.
If you’ve been holding off on submitting because you’re worried somebody else has sent in for the same thing, don’t be. Showing different permutations of a particular display technology is a bit part of the exhibit — we’d rather have too many Nixie clocks to choose from than not enough.
Whatever you’d like to show off, just make sure you
submit it before the end of the weekend
! | 2 | 1 | [
{
"comment_id": "8039895",
"author": "The Commenter Formerly Known As Ren",
"timestamp": "2024-09-14T13:06:42",
"content": "Who knows, I might have a unique display among my stuff, but I have walked past it so many times that it appears normal.I’d really like to get my LED sign board working though…... | 1,760,371,792.282544 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/09/13/pulling-apart-an-old-satellite-truck-tracker/ | Pulling Apart An Old Satellite Truck Tracker | Lewin Day | [
"Misc Hacks",
"Space"
] | [
"GPRS",
"gps",
"modem",
"satellite",
"satellite modem"
] | Sometimes there’s nothing more rewarding than pulling apart an old piece of hardware of mysterious origin. [saveitforparts] does just that, and recently came across a curious satellite system from a surplus store. What else could he do,
other than tear it down and try to get it humming?
The device appeared to be satellite communication device for a tracking unit of some sort, complete with a long, thick proprietary cable. That led to a junction box with a serial port and an RJ45 port, along with some other interfaces. Disassembly of the unit revealed it contained a great deal of smarts onboard, including some kind of single-board computer. Comms-wise, it featured a cellular GPRS interface as well as an Orbcomm satellite modem. It also packed in GPS, WiFi, Xbee, Ethernet, and serial interfaces. It ultimately turned out to be a Digi ConnectPort X5 device, used as a satellite tracking system for commercial trucks.
What’s cool is that the video doesn’t just cover pulling it apart. It also dives into communicating with the unit. [saveitforparts] was able to power it up and, using the manufacturer’s software, actually talk to the device. He even found the web interface and tested the satellite modem.
Ultimately, this is the kind of obscure industry hardware that most of us would never come into contact with during our regular lives.
It’s neat when these things show up on the secondary market
so hackers can pull them apart and see what makes them tick. Video after the break. | 9 | 5 | [
{
"comment_id": "8039833",
"author": "The Commenter Formerly Known As Ren",
"timestamp": "2024-09-13T23:31:02",
"content": "Thumbs up for Ax-Man!Interesting tear down!",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "8039834",
"author": "Gamma Raymond",
... | 1,760,371,792.334274 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/09/13/building-a-multi-purpose-electrochemistry-device/ | Building A Multi-Purpose Electrochemistry Device | Dave Rowntree | [
"chemistry hacks"
] | [
"diy",
"electrochemistry",
"magnet stirrer",
"voltammetry"
] | We don’t get enough electrochemistry hacks on these pages, so here’s [Markus Bindhammer] of YouTube/
Marb’s lab
fame to give us a fix with their hand-built
general-purpose electrochemistry device
.
The basic structure is made from plyboard cut to size on a table saw and glued’n’screwed together. The top and front are constructed from an aluminium sheet bent to shape with a hand-bender. A laser-printed front panel finishes the aesthetic nicely, contrasting with the shiny aluminium. The electrode holders are part of off-the-shelf chemistry components, with the electrical contacts hand-made from components usually used for constructing stair handrails. Inside, a 500 RPM 12 V DC geared motor is mounted, driving a couple of small magnets. A PWM motor speed controller provides power. This allows a magnetic stirrer to be added for relevant applications. Power for the electrochemical cell is courtesy of a Zk-5KX buck-boost power supply with a range of 0 – 36 V at up to 5 A with both CV and CC modes. A third electrode holder is also provided as a reference electrode for voltammetry applications. A simple and effective build, we reckon!
Over the years, we’ve seen a few electrochemical hacks, like this DIY
electroplating pen
, a
DIY electrochemical machining rig
, and finally,
a little something about 3D printing metal
electrochemically
. | 12 | 4 | [
{
"comment_id": "8039824",
"author": "Drone",
"timestamp": "2024-09-13T22:46:24",
"content": "I am surprised to see only one container. Electrochemical Cells are a big part of Electro-Chemistry studies and almost always have at least two containers.[1][One] Electrochemical Cellshttps://ch302.cm.utex... | 1,760,371,792.386605 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/09/13/2024-tiny-games-contest-neat-pcb-business-card-was-inspired-by-the-arduboy/ | 2024 Tiny Games Contest: Neat PCB Business Card Was Inspired By The Arduboy | Lewin Day | [
"contests",
"Games"
] | [
"2024 Tiny Games Challenge",
"business card",
"Flappy Bird",
"pcb",
"pcb business card"
] | The humble business card is usually a small slip of cardboard with some basic contact details on it — but as hackers know, it can be so much more. [Marian] has provided us a great example in the form of
his own digital business card
, which doubles as a handheld game!
Wanting to make his business card more interesting for better engagement, [Marian] was
inspired by the Arduboy
to give it some interactivity. He chose the STM32G030F6 microcontroller as a cheap and reliable option to run his business card. He then created a 10×9 LED matrix display using
Charlieplexing
to minimize the amount of I/O pins required. For controls, he went with the usual directional cross plus two action buttons. He implemented a variety of games on the card—including a
Flappy Bird
clone and a game similar to the classic Simon toy.
Files are
on GitHub
for the curious. We’ve featured
some other great business cards
this year, too. Indeed, we ran
a whole challenge!
If you’re cooking up your own exemplary little PCB to hand out at conferences, don’t hesitate to
let us know
! | 0 | 0 | [] | 1,760,371,792.619136 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/09/13/where-do-you-connect-the-shield/ | Where Do You Connect The Shield? | Arya Voronova | [
"Featured",
"how-to",
"News",
"PCB Hacks"
] | [
"audio",
"connector",
"Ground",
"hdmi",
"pcb",
"usb"
] | When it comes to polarizing and confusing questions in electronics, wiring up shields is on the top-10 list when sorted by popularity. It’s a question most of us need to figure out at some point – when you place a USB socket symbol on your schematic, where do you wire up the SHIELD and MP pins?
Once you look it up, you will find Eevblog forum threads with dozens of conflicting replies, Stackexchange posts with seven different responses plus a few downvoted ones, none of them accepted, and if you try to consult the literature, the answer will invariably be “it depends”.
I’m not a connector-ground expert, I just do a fair bit of both reading and hacking. Still, I’ve been trying to figure out this debate, for a couple years now, re-reading the forum posts each time I started a new schematic with a yet-unfamiliar connector. Now, of course, coming to this question with my own bias, here’s a summary you can fall back on.
Consumer Ports
Putting HDMI on your board? First of all, good luck. Then, consider – do you have a reason to avoid connecting the shield? If not, certainly connect the shield to ground, use jumpers if that’s what makes you comfortable, though
there’s a good argument
that you should just connect directly, too. The reason is simple: a fair few HDMI cables omit GND pin connections, fully relying on the shield for return currents. When your HDMI connection misfires, you don’t want to be debugging your HDMI transmitter settings when the actual
No Signal
problem, as unintuitive as it sounds, will be simply your shield not being grounded – like
BeagleBone
and
Odroid
didn’t in the early days. By the way, is a DVI-D to HDMI adapter not working for you? Well, it might just be that it’s built in a cheap way and
doesn’t connect the shields
of the two sockets together – which is fixable.
Putting an Ethernet port on your board? This is the case where you should probably watch out, to make sure you understand what’s happening. Ethernet doesn’t use or need ground as such — it’s a galvanically isolated interface — but if you ground the shield and then use a shielded cable, your ground will go run along the shield. Do you need it? Likely not. Do you want it? I’d say it’s inconclusive. This only applies if your cable has a shield and metal-plated jacks that connect to it: while that’s not the norm, it’s the case for CAT6 and CAT7 cables, which are now pretty common because they’re pretty much required for 2.5 Gbps and above interfaces. Same goes for magjack shields, though watch out, they have a separate ground pin for the internal transformers and circuitry, you do need to wire that up, it won’t propagate any further than it might need to.
Every coaxial port that has a shield contact, but there’s only two contacts in total? This goes from RCA to BNC – the “shield” is actually often a ground pin, though not everyone might realize this. If it is used as a ground pin, passing the return current through, it has to stay grounded at both ends.
USB Ports
There are a fair few different USB port connectors and roles you could be putting on your board – here’s a quick answer for a somewhat common case. USB-A port that’s a host and therefore a power source? Connect the shield to ground. This is what you are universally expected to do, and something that indeed is done basically everywhere you look, bar devices that are being a bit bizarre.
What about a device port, like microUSB, or USB-B, or, hell, miniUSB? Well, the recommendation is leaving two footprints connected to the shield, so you can stuff them with 0-ohm resistors later, or put, say, a resistor-and-capacitor combo there if you’re having noise issues. Honestly, it is unlikely to hurt you if you ground it, doubly so if it’s a power only port – USB is a seriously sensitive interface when it comes to common mode shifts.
Using USB-C? Just wire the shield to ground. Do not pass go, do not collect 200, just wire it up to ground. Why? The specification requires you to, so that’s an easy call. It’s definitely true that, with dual-role ports being abundant, you can no longer really differentiate between host or device, so figuring out shield grounding based on already shaky roles would be a problem. By the way, this is a gift for all of us reverse-engineers out there – finally, a connector with a shield that is guaranteed to be ground-connected!
Not everyone realizes
that the specification explicitly mandates it, and people still think separating shield from ground could be meaningful, including myself as recently as a few months ago. If anyone needs a pointer, tell them to check
the USB-C cable and connector specification
, revision 2.2. For sockets (receptacles), open page 44 and refer to the note 11, for plugs, open page 78 and refer to the note 6.
Other Concerns
There is some mechanical helpfulness to hard-wiring shield to ground, especially if you’re using copper fills without thermals. In my experience, it’s harder for connectors to break off when they have a plane of solid uninterrupted copper they adhere to! Now, thermals do help soldering a whole bunch, so I don’t want to be gung-ho about it, but if you’re dealing with a fully surface-mount connector that can get torn off, you might as well go thermal-less just this once. Worked for me on a larger-scale product of mine, to the point I completely stopped getting the problem where microUSB shield pads would get torn off the board. Of course, remember, microUSB with through-hole mounting pins is superiour mechanically – in case you do make the very situational decision to use microUSB.
The debate about grounding shields might never end, but if you want a summary, this is what I can say surefire, and I hope it helps. What’s your take? | 24 | 5 | [
{
"comment_id": "8039759",
"author": "Matthias",
"timestamp": "2024-09-13T17:21:58",
"content": "feel you with seperating the USB-C Shield and have to thank you for pointing it out before i sent my board to the fab",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id":... | 1,760,371,792.579446 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/09/14/cast21-brings-healing-into-2024/ | Cast21 Brings Healing Into 2024 | Kristina Panos | [
"Medical Hacks",
"News"
] | [
"cast",
"catalyst",
"fracture",
"resin"
] | It takes but an ill-fated second to break a bone, and several long weeks for it to heal in a cast. And even if you have one of those newfangled fiberglass casts, you still can’t get the thing wet, and it’s gonna be itchy under there because your skin can’t breathe. Isn’t it high time for something better?
Enter
Cast21
, co-founded by Chief Technical Officer [Jason Troutner], who has been in casts more than 50 times due to sports injuries and surgeries. He teamed up with a biomedical design engineer and an electrical engineer to break the norms associated with traditional casts and
design a new solution that addresses their drawbacks
.
So, how does it work already? The latticework cast is made from a network of silicone tubes that harden once injected with resin and a catalyst mixture. It takes ten seconds to fill the latticework with resin and three minutes for it to cure, and the whole process is much faster than plaster or fiberglass.
This new cast can be used along with electrical stimulation therapy, which can reduce healing time and prevent muscle atrophy.
Cast21 is not only breathable, it’s also waterproof, meaning no more trash bags on your arm to take a shower. The doctor doesn’t even need a saw to remove it,
just cut in two places along the seam
. It can even be used as a splint afterward.
It’s great to see advancements in simple medical technologies like the cast. And it looks almost as cool as
this 3D-printed exoskeleton cast we saw ten years ago
.
Thanks to [Keith Olson] for the tip! | 16 | 8 | [
{
"comment_id": "8040011",
"author": "steelman",
"timestamp": "2024-09-15T06:20:52",
"content": "There is significantly less surface area to collect artwork.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "8040013",
"author": "jbx",
"timestamp... | 1,760,371,792.676375 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/09/14/taking-back-the-internet-with-the-tildeverse/ | Taking Back The Internet With The Tildeverse | Dave Rowntree | [
"internet hacks",
"Retrocomputing"
] | [
"Fediverse",
"gemini",
"Gopher",
"minecraft",
"minimalist",
"radio",
"retro",
"Tilde",
"Tildeverse",
"voip",
"www"
] | For many of us of a particular vintage, the internet blossomed in the ’90s with the invention of the Web and just a few years of development. Back then, we had the convenience of expression on the WWW and the backup of mature services such as IRC for all that other stuff we used to get up to. Some of us still hang out there. Then something happened. Something terrible. Big-commerce took over, and it ballooned into this enormously complex mess with people tracking you every few seconds and constantly trying to bombard you with marketing messages. Enough now. Many people have had enough and have
come together to create the Tildeverse
, a minimalist community-driven internet experience.
A collaborative Minecraft server hosted on a Tilde site
Tilde, literally ‘ ~ ‘, is your home on the internet. You can work on your ideas on a shared server or run your own. Tilde emphasises the retro aesthetic by being minimal and text-orientated. Those unfamiliar with a command line may start getting uncomfortable, but don’t worry—
help is at hand
. The number of
activities
is too many to list, but there are a few
projects
, such as a
collaborative Sci-Fi stor
y, a
radio station
, and even a
private VoIP server
. Gamers are catered for
as long as you like Minecraft
, but we think that’s how it
should go.
The Tildeverse also supports Gopher and the new
Gemini protocol
, giving some people a few more options with which to tinker. The usual method to gain access is to first sign up on a server, then SSH into it; you’re then taken to your little piece of the internet, ready to start your minimalist journey into the Tildeverse.
A couple of videos after the break go into much more detail about the whys and hows of the Tildeverse and are worth a chunk of your time.
We’ve talked about the ‘small web’ before. Here’s our guide to
Gemini
.
Thanks to [Andrew] for the tip! | 24 | 11 | [
{
"comment_id": "8039999",
"author": "BT",
"timestamp": "2024-09-15T04:02:25",
"content": "Big-commerce took over, and it ballooned into this enormously complex mess with people tracking you every few seconds and constantly trying to bombard you with marketing messages.And they choose to publicise t... | 1,760,371,792.813456 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/09/14/an-earth-bound-homage-to-a-martian-biochemistry-experiment/ | An Earth-Bound Homage To A Martian Biochemistry Experiment | Dan Maloney | [
"chemistry hacks",
"Space"
] | [
"carbon dioxide",
"carbon-14",
"co2",
"Labeled Release",
"mars",
"nutrient",
"regolith",
"Viking"
] | With all the recent attention on Mars and the search for evidence of ancient life there, it’s easy to forget that not only has the Red Planet been under the figurative microscope since the early days of the Space Race, but we went to tremendous effort to send a pair of miniaturized biochemical laboratories there back in 1976. While the results were equivocal, it was still an amazing piece of engineering and spacefaring, one that [Marb] has recreated with
this Earth-based version of the famed Viking “Labeled Release” experiment
.
The Labeled Release experimental design was based on the fact that many metabolic processes result in the evolution of carbon dioxide gas, which should be detectable by inoculating a soil sample with a nutrient broth laced with radioactive carbon-14. For this homage to the LR experiment, [Marb] eschewed the radioactive tracer, instead looking for a relative increase in the much lower CO
2
concentration here on Earth. The test chamber is an electrical enclosure with a gasketed lid that holds a petri dish and a simple CO
2
sensor module. Glands in the lid allow an analog for Martian regolith — red terrarium sand — and a nutrient broth to be added to the petri dish. Once the chamber was sterilized, or at least sanitized, [Marb] established a baseline CO
2
level with a homebrew data logger and added his sample. Adding the nutrient broth — a solution of trypsinized milk protein, yeast extract, sugar, and salt — gives the bacteria in the “regolith” all the food they need, which increases the CO
2
level in the chamber.
More after the break…
[Marb]’s results are not surprising by any means, but that’s hardly the point. This is just a demonstration of the concept of the LR experiment, one that underscores the difficulties of doing biochemistry on another planet and the engineering it took to make it happen. Compared to
some of the instruments rolling around Mars today
, the Viking experiments seem downright primitive, and the fact that they delivered even the questionable data they did is pretty impressive. | 5 | 3 | [
{
"comment_id": "8039977",
"author": "Hirudinea",
"timestamp": "2024-09-14T23:50:43",
"content": "So did he find life?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "8040027",
"author": "Menno",
"timestamp": "2024-09-15T08:04:01",
"co... | 1,760,371,792.716704 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/09/14/create-custom-gridfinity-boxes-using-images-of-tools/ | Create Custom Gridfinity Boxes Using Images Of Tools | Dave Rowntree | [
"3d Printer hacks",
"Software Hacks"
] | [
"3d printed",
"Canny",
"gridfinity",
"opencv"
] | Exhibit A: A standard-issue banana.
We love it when a community grabs hold of an idea and runs wild with it despite obvious practicality issues. Gridfinity by YouTuber [Zach Freedman] is one of those concepts. For the unaware, this is a simple storage system standard, defining boxes to hold your things. These boxes can be stacked and held in place in anything from a desk drawer to hanging off the side of a 3D printer. [Georgs Lazdāns] is one such Gridfinity user who wanted to create tool-specific holders without leaving the sofa. To do so, they made a
web application using node.js and OpenCV to extract outlines for tools
(or anything else) when photographed on a blank sheet of paper.
The OpenCV stack assumes that the object to be profiled will be placed on a uniformly colored paper with all parts of its outline visible. The first part of the stack uses a bilateral filter to denoise the image whilst keeping edge details.
Make a base, then add a banana. Easy!
Next, the image is converted to greyscale, blurred, and run through an adaptive threshold. This converts the image to monochrome, again preserving edge details. Finally, the Canny algorithm pulls out the paper contour. The object outline can be given an accurate scale with the paper contour and paper size specified. The second part of the process works similarly to extract the object outline. The second contour should follow the object pretty accurately. If it doesn’t, it can be manually tweaked in the editor. Once a contour is captured, it can be used to modify a blank Gridfinity base in the model editor.
With a few tweaks to the OpenCV parameters, we were able to create a usable profile from an image of a banana (obviously, Gridfinity is the perfect snack storage system). From there, inside the model editor, we adjusted the box outline to encompass it. Then, we cut out the traced profile to create our banana holder. The web app allows you to download an STL file, which can be fed into your slicer of choice. We would have printed the thing but accidentally ate the banana. Ah well.
More information can be found on the
project’s GitHub page
.
We’ve touched on Gridfinity before; here’s
our first article
.
Of course, we can’t talk about making outlines of tools for storage without
mentioning shadow boards
.
Finally, on the subject of the awesome OpenCV, it has many, many uses, including
catching a dirty stinkin’ thief
.
Thanks to [JohnU] for the tip! | 4 | 4 | [
{
"comment_id": "8039974",
"author": "David",
"timestamp": "2024-09-14T21:37:55",
"content": "Standard banana,standard(ish) dose of radioactivity",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "8040006",
"author": "echodelta",
"timestamp": "2024-09-15T0... | 1,760,371,792.903995 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/09/14/pong-in-a-petri-dish-teasing-out-how-brains-work/ | Pong In A Petri Dish: Teasing Out How Brains Work | Maya Posch | [
"Science"
] | [
"bayesian",
"biological neural network",
"electroactive polymers"
] | Experimental setup for the EAP hydrogel free energy principle test. (Credit: Vincent Strong et al., Cell, 2024)
Of the many big, unanswered questions in this Universe, the ones pertaining to the functioning of biological neural networks are probably among the most intriguing. From the lowliest neurally gifted creatures to us brainy mammals, neural networks allow us to learn, to predict and adapt to our environments, and sometimes even stand still and wonder puzzlingly how all of this even works. Such puzzling has led to a number of theories, with a team of researchers recently
investigating one such theory
, as published in
Cell
. The focus here was that of
Bayesian approaches
to brain function, specifically the
free energy principle
, which postulates that neural networks as inference engines seek to minimize the difference between inputs (i.e. the model of the world as perceived) and its internal model.
This is where Electro Active Polymer (EAP) hydrogel comes into play, as it features free ions that can migrate through the hydrogel in response to inputs. In the experiment, these inputs are related to the ball position in the game of Pong. Much like experiments involving biological neurons, the hydrogel is stimulated via electrodes (in a 2 x 3 grid, matching the 2 by 3 grid of the game world), with other electrodes serving as outputs. The idea is that over time the hydrogel will ‘learn’ to optimize the outputs through ion migration, so that it ‘plays’ the game better, which should be reflected in the scores (i.e. the rally length).
Based on the results some improvement in rally length can be observed, which the researchers present as statistically significant. This would imply that the hydrogel displays active inference and memory. Additional tests with incorrect inputs resulted in a marked decrease in performance. This raises many questions about whether this truly displays emergent memory, and whether this validates the free energy principle as a Bayesian approach to understanding biological neural networks.
To the average Star Trek enthusiast the concept of hydrogels, plasmas, etc. displaying the inklings of intelligent life would probably seem familiar, and for good reason. At this point, we do not have a complete understanding of the operation of the many billions of neurons in our own brains. Doing a bit of prodding and poking at some hydrogel and similar substances in a dish might be just the kind of thing we need to get some fundamental answers. | 1 | 1 | [
{
"comment_id": "8040233",
"author": "Peter",
"timestamp": "2024-09-16T04:14:31",
"content": "If you Find this interesting, you should check out “the thought emporium “ . He is working on growing neurons to play doom. :)",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
}
] | 1,760,371,792.853508 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/09/14/always-something-new-under-the-sun/ | Always Something New Under The Sun | Elliot Williams | [
"Hackaday Columns",
"Rants"
] | [
"contest",
"inspiration",
"newsletter"
] | Some of the entries we got into the Tiny Games Contest have been really mind-blowing. Just as you think you’ve seen it all, for instance,
alnwlsn comes along and mills the DIP-package ATtiny84 and embeds a complete Simon game in the space normally
wasted
by all that plastic overmolding
. It’s the tiniest, and most gonzo, circuit-sculpture Simon we’ve ever seen.
Now, our judges are hard at work ranking all 80 of the entries, and we have a fantastic range of entries all around, so I’m not calling any winners yet. But have you ever seen a project milled
into
a chip before? Nope, me neither.
What’s amazing is that this happens every time we run a contest. The second you put limitations on a project, there’s always someone out there who says “Hold my beer” and blows the limits out of the water. Indeed, the frequency with which we see someone pull off the impossible on Hackaday makes me wish I were buying more lottery tickets. You all really are stupendous.
We hope that feats like this are as inspirational to you as they are to us. No idea is too bonkers to not at least give it a try. Who knows, it might work! And when it does, please write it up and let us know. Keep the cycle of inspiration going!
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
! | 7 | 2 | [
{
"comment_id": "8039946",
"author": "alnwlsn",
"timestamp": "2024-09-14T16:19:03",
"content": "Honestly, the idea for something like this comes directly from years of reading Hackaday, which I’ve been doing since middle school. Some projects that inspired this one arehttps://hackaday.com/2011/12/19... | 1,760,371,792.957113 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/09/14/soldering-up-close-and-personal/ | Soldering, Up Close And Personal | Dan Maloney | [
"Misc Hacks"
] | [
"bga",
"inspection",
"Keyence",
"microscope",
"qfn",
"smd",
"solder",
"through hole",
"tssop"
] | A word of warning before watching
this very cool video on soldering
: it may make you greatly desire what appears to be a very, very expensive microscope. You’ve been warned.
Granted, most people don’t really need to get this up close and personal with their soldering, but as [Robert Feranec] points out, a close look at what’s going on when the solder melts and the flux flows can be a real eye-opener. The video starts with what might be the most esoteric soldering situation — a ball-grid array (BGA) chip. It also happens to be one of the hardest techniques to assess visually, both during reflow and afterward to check the quality of your work. While the microscope [Robert] uses, a
Keyence VHX-7000 series
digital scope, allows the objective to swivel around and over the subject in multiple axes and keep track of where it is while doing it, it falls short of being the X-ray vision you’d need to see much beyond the outermost rows of balls. But, being able to look in at an angle is a huge benefit, one that allows us a glimpse of the reflow process.
More after the break
[Robert] also takes a look at other SMD packages, such as a TSSOP chip and a QFN package, as well as some through-hole terminals. He also forces a few errors, like misaligning leads or using way too much solder, just to show how fault-tolerant SMD soldering can be. The real eye-opener here was the excess tinning on the central pad of the QFN, which clearly caused problems by preventing capillary action from pulling the outer contacts down onto the pads.
We’ve had that same problem ourselves
, and seeing this makes us want to give that repair another go.
Kudos to [Roboert] for sharing these delicious views of what’s really going on when the solder starts to flow. | 13 | 11 | [
{
"comment_id": "8039907",
"author": "Sean",
"timestamp": "2024-09-14T13:57:39",
"content": "Really neat how it stays in focus no matter how you turn the stage or swivel the camera. Very smooth video!",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "8039908",
... | 1,760,371,793.008086 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/09/12/2024-tiny-games-contest-spectacular-sub-surface-simon/ | 2024 Tiny Games Contest: Spectacular Sub-Surface Simon | Kristina Panos | [
"ATtiny Hacks",
"contests",
"Games"
] | [
"2024 Tiny Games Challenge",
"attiny84"
] | When you work with tiny things on the regular, they start to seem normal-sized to your hands and eyes. Then, if you work with even smaller packages, stuff like 0603 might as well be through-hole components.
[alnwlsn] is no stranger to the small, having worked almost exclusively with surface mount components for a few years now. Even so, they’ve built up an admirable stock of DIP chips, including the ATtiny84 DIP-14 that
their incredible Simon game
is built into.
How in the world did [alnwlsn] accomplish this? As you’ll see in the video after the break, the answer lies in milling, but with the motors disconnected and manually turning the knobs.
Soldering didn’t require anything special, just the usual suspects like a fine-tipped iron, an X-acto knife, some tweezers, and a few other things like a hot air gun for soldering fine wires to the leadframe. Oh, and of course, really steady hands, and lots of patience.
The 2024 Tiny Games Contest officially closed on Tuesday, September 10th. We’ll have the results out as soon as possible. Best of luck to all who entered! | 17 | 14 | [
{
"comment_id": "8039559",
"author": "Nathan",
"timestamp": "2024-09-12T23:18:04",
"content": "“As you’ll see in the video after the break, the answer lies in milling, but with the motors disconnected and manually turning the knobs”That’s still milling lolIf anything, that’s the normal way milling i... | 1,760,371,793.066443 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/09/12/digital-bumper-sticker-tells-everyone-what-youre-listening-to/ | Digital Bumper Sticker Tells Everyone What You’re Listening To | Lewin Day | [
"Musical Hacks"
] | [
"audio",
"charli xcx",
"last.fm",
"music",
"spotify"
] | Bumper stickers are usually political, crude, or otherwise inflammatory. Rather a more fun example is this digital creation from [Guy Dupont], who made
a bumper sticker that broadcasts what he’s listening to on the stereo.
[Guy] found a nice wide 11-inch bar LCD that was the right aspect ratio to suit the “bumper sticker” aesthetic. It had an HDMI interface, so he decided to drive it with a Raspbery Pi Zero 2W. Power for the system was derived from 12-volt lines going to his vehicle’s rear view camera. For an enclosure, he simply stuck the Pi and a buck converter on the back of the display and heat shrinked the whole thing. He also threw some magnets in there to stick it to the car.
How does the screen know what song to display? Well, [Guy] already has his Spotify listens scrobbling to Last.fm. Thus, he just made a script that scrapes his Last.fm page, which runs on a Particle Boron microcontroller, which has a cellular connection of its own. The Boron gets the song data, and spits it over to the Pi via Bluetooth. Then the Pi generates an image for the display.
Oh, and there’s also a neat Easter Egg. In honor of
brat summer,
the background changes to #8ACE00 green if the system detects you’re listening to Charli XCX. Neat.
It’s a neat build with a lot of moving parts. We’re surprised we haven’t seen anything like this before though, it’s really rather fun. Also, how’s about that taste of the old Internet—when was the last time you heard somebody mention
scrobbling?
Gosh, we’re getting old.
We’ve featured some of [Guy’s] works before, too,
like the amusing Mailblocks project.
Video after the break. | 23 | 11 | [
{
"comment_id": "8039528",
"author": "davedarko",
"timestamp": "2024-09-12T20:17:20",
"content": "Every Guy Dupont project is an absolute pleasure for me to see here and on youtube.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "8039544",
"author": "Hirudi... | 1,760,371,793.314613 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/09/12/how-photomultipliers-detect-single-photons/ | How Photomultipliers Detect Single Photons | Maya Posch | [
"Science"
] | [
"photomultiplier",
"photomultiplier tube"
] | If you need to measure the presence of photons down to a very small number of them, you are looking at the use of a photomultiplier, as explained in a recent video by [Huygens Optics] on YouTube. The only way to realistically measure at such a sensitivity level is to amplify them with a
photomultiplier tube
(PMT). Although solid-state alternatives exist, this is still a field where vacuum tube-based technology is highly relevant.
Despite being called ‘photomultipliers’, these PMTs actually amplify an incoming current (electron) in a series of dynode stages, to create an output current that is actually easy to quantify for measurement equipment. They find uses in everything from Raman spectroscopy to medical diagnostics and night vision sensors.
The specific PMT that [Huygens Optics] uses in the video is the
Hamamatsu R928
. This has a spectral response from 185 nm to 900 nm. The electrode mesh is where photons enter the tube, triggering the photo cathode which then ejects electrons. These initial electrons are then captured and amplified by each dynode stage, until the anode grid captures most of the electrons. The R928 has a gain of 1.0 x 10
7
(10 million) at -1 kV supply voltage, so each dynode multiplies the amount of electrons by six, with a response time of 22 ns.
PMTs are unsurprisingly not cheap, but [Huygens Optics] was lucky to find surplus R928s on Marktplaats (Dutch online marketplace) for €100 including a cover, optics and a PCB with the socket, high-voltage supply (Hamamatsu C4900) and so on. Without documentation the trick was to reverse-engineer the PCB’s connections to be able to use it. In the video the components and their function are all briefly covered, as well as the use of opamps like the AD817 to handle the output signal of the R928. Afterwards the operation of the PMT is demonstrated, which makes clear just how sensitive the PMT is as it requires an extremely dark space to not get swamped with photons.
An interesting part about the demonstration is that it also shows the presence of thermionic emissions: anode dark current in the datasheet. This phenomenon is countered by cooling the PMT to prevent these emissions if it is an issue. In an upcoming video the R928 will be used for more in-depth experiments, to show much more of what these devices are capable of.
Thanks to [cliff claven] for the tip. | 12 | 7 | [
{
"comment_id": "8039517",
"author": "philosiraptor117",
"timestamp": "2024-09-12T19:35:07",
"content": "sure would be a shame if somebody used semiconductor tech in photonics to build a monolithic photomultiplier that was only a few mm tall…",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [... | 1,760,371,793.362851 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/09/12/building-a-subwoofer-box-out-of-decking-material/ | Building A Subwoofer Box Out Of Decking Material | Lewin Day | [
"Musical Hacks"
] | [
"audio",
"HiFi",
"music",
"speaker",
"speaker box",
"Speaker enclosure",
"sub",
"subwoofer",
"subwoofer enclosure"
] | When you go to build a subwoofer box, wood is the most common choice. When it came to his project, though, [Startup Chuck] decided to go a different route entirely. Rather than the usual plywood or MDF,
he decided to try Trex decking instead.
Why? He had some lying around, and he suspected it might just sound good.
If you’re unfamiliar with it, Trex decking is a composite material made of recycled materials like reclaimed wood and plastic film. The best part, though? Trex decking is twice as dense as MDF. That makes it good for speaker box use because it flexes less and thus absorbs less energy from the subwoofer. [Chuck] walks us through cutting out the parts for the box and the subsequent assembly. Ultimately, it’s not dissimilar from building a speaker box out of wood; the material is simply not
that
different—just denser.
[Chuck] also puts his new sub through some quick little tests, demonstrating that minimal vibration is passed through to the enclosure itself. He reports that the final build has a “nice, deep sound.” Meanwhile, if you don’t like working with your hands, you could always
3D-print your speaker enclosures instead
. | 8 | 5 | [
{
"comment_id": "8039478",
"author": "Snarkenstein",
"timestamp": "2024-09-12T16:28:36",
"content": "MDF isn’texactlywood. It’s wood flour and glue, basically.I banned MDF from my shop years ago, because the dust from cutting it is so pervasive. I don’t know what the dust from cutting this deck mate... | 1,760,371,795.222917 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/09/12/review-ifixits-fixhub-may-be-the-last-soldering-iron-you-ever-buy/ | Review: IFixit’s FixHub May Be The Last Soldering Iron You Ever Buy | Tom Nardi | [
"Featured",
"Interest",
"Reviews",
"Tool Hacks"
] | [
"FixHub",
"ifixit",
"repairability",
"soldering iron",
"soldering station",
"USB C",
"webserial"
] | Like many people who solder regularly, I decided years ago to upgrade from a basic iron and invest in a soldering station. My RadioShack digital station has served me well for the better part of 20 years. It heats up fast, tips are readily available, and it’s a breeze to dial in whatever temperature I need. It’s older than both of my children, has moved with me to three different homes, and has outlived two cars and one marriage (so far, anyway).
When I got this, Hackaday still used B&W pictures.
As such, when the new breed of “smart” USB-C soldering irons started hitting the scene, I didn’t find them terribly compelling. Oh sure, I bought a Pinecil. But that’s because I’m an unrepentant open source zealot and love the idea that there’s a soldering iron running a community developed firmware. In practice though, I only used the thing a few times, and even then it was because I needed something portable. Using it at home on the workbench? It just never felt up to the task of daily use.
So when iFixit got in contact a couple weeks back and said they had a
prototype USB-C soldering iron
they wanted me to take a look at, I was skeptical to say the least. But then I started reading over the documentation they sent over, and couldn’t deny that they had some interesting ideas. For one, it was something of a hybrid iron. It was portable when you needed it to be, yet offered the flexibility and power of a station when you were at the bench.
Even better, they were planning on putting their money where their mouth is. The hardware was designed with repairability in mind at every step. Not only was it modular and easy to open up, but the company would be providing full schematics, teardown guides, and spare parts.
Alright, fine. Now you’ve got my attention.
Best of Both Worlds
Before we get too much farther, I should clarify that the FixHub is technically two separate devices. Officially iFixit calls the combo a “
Portable Soldering System
” in their documentation, which is made up of the
Smart Soldering Iron
and the
Portable Power Station
. While they are designed to work best when combined, both are fully capable of working independently of each other.
Smart Soldering Iron
The star of the show is, of course, the Smart Soldering Iron. It’s a 100 watt iron that comes up to operating temperature in under five seconds and can work with any suitably beefy USB-C Power Delivery source. The size and general proportions of the iron are very close to the Pinecil V2, though the grip is larger and considerably more comfortable to hold. The biggest difference between the two however is the absence of a display or configuration buttons. According to iFixit, most users don’t change their settings enough to justify putting the interface on the iron itself. That doesn’t mean you can’t tweak the iron’s settings when used in this stand-alone configuration, but we’ll get back to that in a minute.
The only control on the iron is a slide switch on the tail end that cuts power to the heating element. I like this arrangement a lot more than the software solution used on irons like the Pinecil. The click of the switch just feels more reliable than having to hold down a button and hoping the iron’s firmware understands that I want to turn the thing off and not adjust some setting. Of course, this is still a “smart” iron, so naturally there’s also support for accelerometer based idle and sleep modes that you can enable.
While there’s no display, the illuminated ring behind the grip does provide a visual indicator of what the iron is doing: solid blue means it has power but the heating element is off, a pulsing blue indicates the iron is heating, and orange means it has reached the desired temperature. If you flick the heater switch off, the ring pulses purple until it cools back off and returns to blue. It’s a simple and effective system, but the visual distinction between the blue and purple isn’t great. Would love to see the ability to customize these colors in a future firmware update.
https://hackaday.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/fixhub_ring_demo.mp4
The iron has a couple of clever portability features for those who often find themselves hacking on the go. The magnetic cap can be placed over the tip even when it’s hot, which means you don’t need to wait for the iron to cool down before you pack it away in your bag. The included USB-C cable also comes with a locking collar that mates with the groves in the tail of the iron — this keeps the cable from pulling out if you’ve got yourself contorted into some weird angle, but doesn’t prevent you from using your own cable should you want.
As for the tip, it can be easily removed without tools and uses a 3.5 mm TRS plug like the Miniware TS80, although I don’t have a TS80 handy to test if the tips are actually compatible. For their part, iFixit says they plan on offering an array of styles and sizes of tips in addition to the 1.5 mm bevel that the Smart Soldering Iron ships with.
Portable Power Station
While it’s not required to use the Smart Soldering Iron, for the best experience, you’ll want to spring for the Portable Power Station. It’s essentially a 5,200 mAh battery bank capable of powering devices at 100 W, with a single USB-C port on the back for charging and two on the front for whatever devices you want to plug into it.
The trick is, once the Station detects you’ve plugged a Smart Soldering Iron into it, you’re given the ability to configure it via the OLED screen and rotary encoder on the front of the device. There’s even support for connecting a pair of Smart Soldering Irons to the Station, each with its own independent configuration. Though in that case, both would have to share the total 100 W output.
https://hackaday.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/fixhub_station_demo.mp4
Assuming a single Smart Soldering Iron, iFixit says you should expect to get up to eight hours of runtime from the Portable Power Station. Of course there are a lot of variables involved, so your mileage may vary. If you’re spending most of your time at the bench, you can keep the rear USB-C port connected to a Power Delivery charger and use it more or less like a traditional station.
The Internet of Irons
Plugging the Smart Soldering Iron into the Power Station is the most obvious way of tweaking its various settings, but as I mentioned earlier, it’s not the only way.
Maybe you don’t want to buy the Station, or you left it at home. In either event, you can simply plug the iron into your computer and
configure it via WebSerial
.
You’ll need a browser based on Chrome to pull this trick off, as Mozilla has decided (at least, for now) to not include the capability in Firefox. In testing, it worked perfectly on both my Linux desktop and Chromebook.
Unfortunately, plugging the iron into your phone won’t work, as the mobile version of Chrome does not currently support WebSerial. But given the vertical layout of the interface and the big touch-friendly buttons, I can only assume that iFixit is either banking on this changing soon or has a workaround in mind. Being able to plug the iron into your phone for a quick settings tweak would be incredibly handy, so hopefully it will happen one way or another.
The WebSerial interface not only gives you access to all the same settings as plugging the iron into the Power Station does, but it also serves as the mechanism for updating the firmware on the iron.
Incidentally, the Power Station has it’s own nearly identical WebSerial interface. Primarily this would be used for upgrading the firmware, but it’s not hard to imagine that some users would prefer being able to change their settings on the big screen rather than having to squint at an OLED not much larger than their thumbnail.
Solder At Your Command
But wait! I hear those gears turning in your head. If the Smart Soldering Iron into the Power Station both feature WebSerial interfaces that let you play around with their settings, does that mean they might also offer a traditional serial interface for you to poke around in?
Hell yeah they do!
There was no mention of this terminal interface in any of the documentation I received from iFixit, but thanks to the built-in help function and tab completion, I was able to make my way around the various tools and functions. I never knew how badly I yearned to adjust the temperature on my soldering station from the command line before this moment. There’s clearly a lot of potential here, and I’m really looking forward to seeing what the community can come up given this level of control.
A Look Under the Hood
iFixit offered to give me a peek at the in-development repair guides for the Smart Soldering Iron and the Power Station, but I passed. For one thing, there’s no doubt in my mind that the finished product is going to be phenomenally detailed. Just look at any of their in-house guides, and you’ll know what to expect. But more to the point, I wanted to see how hard it would be to take the two devices apart without any guidance.
I’m happy to report that the iron and its base station are some of the most easily dissembled devices I’ve ever come across. No glue, weird tape, or hidden fasteners. No little plastic tabs that break if you look at them the wrong way. Just two pieces of hardware that were designed and assembled in a logical enough way that you only need to look at them to understand how it all goes together.
Of course, this should come as no surprise. Imagine the mud that would have been slung had iFixit had dropped the ball here. You can’t very well campaign for repairability if you don’t hold your own products to the same standards you do for everyone else. Presumably they designed the Smart Soldering Iron and the Power Station to
hit a perfect ten by their published standards
, and from what I’ve seen, they nailed it.
I also got a look at the schematics, exploded diagrams, and parts list for both products. Like the repair guides, these won’t be made public until the hardware ships in October. But don’t worry, this isn’t some crowdsource bait-and-switch. They’ve got the goods, and it’s all very impressive.
Now to be clear, we’re not talking open source hardware here. Don’t expect to pull Gerbers from a GitHub repo so you can crank out your own Power Station. But the documentation they’re providing is remarkable for a consumer device. The schematics especially — they’re filled with all sorts of notes in the margins from the engineers which were fascinating to go through.
Investing in the Future
If I’ve not made it abundantly clear so far, iFixit really blew me away with the Portable Soldering System. I knew they would put a solid effort into the product from their reputation alone, but even still, I wasn’t expecting the hardware and software to be this polished. iFixit didn’t just raise the bar, they sent it into orbit.
But all this comes at a price. Literally. The Smart Soldering Iron alone will set you back $79.95, and if you want to get the Power Station along with it, the combo comes in at $249.95. You could get a nice soldering station from Weller or Hakko for half the price. Then again, it’s hard to compare what iFixit is offering here to anything else on the market.
In the end, this is one of those times when you’ve got to decide what’s really important to you. If you just want a quality soldering station, there are cheaper options that will meet all of your needs and then some. But if you want to support a company that’s working to change the status quo, sometimes you’ve got to reach a little deeper into those pockets. | 100 | 42 | [
{
"comment_id": "8039439",
"author": "Rob T.",
"timestamp": "2024-09-12T14:11:58",
"content": "I think the future of soldering irons is going to be compact but full power cordless that rapidly charges when placed on the stand. Say you had an iron that gives you a stand alone runtime of 5-10 min but... | 1,760,371,795.368338 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/09/12/2024-tiny-games-contest-a-flappy-seagull-game-with-sound-in-only-500-bytes/ | 2024 Tiny Games Contest: A Flappy Seagull Game With Sound In Only 500 Bytes | Dan Maloney | [
"contests"
] | [
"2024 Tiny Games Challenge",
"6502",
"65uino",
"assembly",
"Flappy Bird",
"i2c"
] | It was probably a reasonable assumption that the “Tiny” in our recently concluded Tiny Games Contest mostly referred to the physical footprint of the game. And indeed, that’s the way most of the entries broke, which resulted in some pretty amazing efforts. [Anders Nielsen], however, took the challenge another way and managed to stuff
a seagull-centric side-scroller into just 500 bytes of code
.
That’s not to say that the size of [Anders]’s game is physically huge either.
Flappy Larus
, as he calls his game, runs on his popular
65uino platform
, a 6502 microcontroller in the familiar Arduino Uno form factor. So it’s pretty small to begin with, and doesn’t even need any additional components other than the tiny OLED screen which has become more or less standard for the 65uino at this point. The only real add-on is a piezo speaker module, which when hooked up to the I2C data line happens to make reasonable approximations of a squawking seagull, all without adding a single byte of code. Check out a little game play in the video below.
Flappy Larus
may be pretty simplistic, but as we recall, the game it’s based on was similarly minimalist and still managed to get people hooked. The
2024 Tiny Games contest
is closed now, but if you’ve got an idea for a tiny game, we’d still love to feature it. Hit the tip line and we’ll take a look! | 4 | 3 | [
{
"comment_id": "8039456",
"author": "Anders Nielsen",
"timestamp": "2024-09-12T14:47:01",
"content": "Thanks for the writeup! It was fun to make – even being under a bit of time pressure this weekend :)",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "8039565... | 1,760,371,794.898454 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/09/12/inkycal-makes-short-work-of-e-paper-dashboards/ | Inkycal Makes Short Work Of E-Paper Dashboards | Tom Nardi | [
"home hacks",
"Raspberry Pi"
] | [
"dashboard",
"e-paper display",
"weather display"
] | The e-paper “dashboard” is something we’ve seen plenty of times here at Hackaday. Use it to show your daily schedule, the news, weather, maybe the latest posts from your favorite hardware hacking website. Any information source that doesn’t need to be updated more than every hour or so is a perfect candidate. All you’ve got to do is write the necessary code to pull down said data and turn it into a visually attractive display.
Well, that last part isn’t always so easy. There are plenty of folks who have no problem cobbling together a Raspberry Pi and one of the commercially available e-paper modules, but writing the software to turn it into a useful information center is another story entirely. Luckily,
Inkycal is here to help
.
This open source project uses Python to pull information from a wide variety of sources and turns it into an e-paper friendly dashboard. It works with Waveshare displays ranging from 4.2 inches all the way up to the massive 12 inch tricolor panels. While it could theoretically be deployed on any operating system running a modern version of Python, it’s primarily developed to be run under Linux and on the Raspberry Pi. All of the versions of the Pi are supported, so no need to spring for the latest and greatest model. In fact, the notoriously pokey Raspberry Pi Zero is their recommended platform thanks to its low power consumption.
With Inkycal on the Pi — they even provide a pre-configured SD card image — and the e-paper display hooked up, all you need to do is pick which sources you want to use from the web-based configuration page. Look ma, no code!
Not feeling like
putting the hardware together
either? Well, we might wonder how you’ve found yourself on Hackaday if that’s the case. But if you really would rather buy then build, you can
get a pre-built Inkcal display right now on Tindie
. | 10 | 6 | [
{
"comment_id": "8039384",
"author": "shinsukke",
"timestamp": "2024-09-12T09:23:58",
"content": "Cool project. I have a spare eInk screen lying around. I have designed a plastic enclosure with an ESP8266 around it but then I came to the hardest part, deciding what info I want it to display.Finally ... | 1,760,371,795.418368 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/09/13/hackaday-podcast-episode-288-cyanotypes-antique-21-segment-displays-and-the-voynich-manuscript-in-a-new-light/ | Hackaday Podcast Episode 288: Cyanotypes, Antique 21-Segment Displays, And The Voynich Manuscript In A New Light | Dan Maloney | [
"Hackaday Columns",
"Podcasts"
] | [
"Hackaday Podcast"
] | It’s Friday the 13th, and despite having to dodge black cats and poorly located ladders, Elliot and Dan were able to get together and run down the best hacks of the first week of September. Our luck was pretty good, too, seeing how we stumbled upon a coffee table that walks your drink over to you on Strandbeest legs, a potato that takes passable photographs, and a cool LED display three times better than a boring old seven-segment.
If you’ve never heard of the Voynich manuscript, you’re in luck too, because we got a chance to look inside this medieval comic book literally, with multispectral analysis. Is your cruise ship too short? No worries, just lop it in two and add a section. Speaking of cutting things up, that’s what you need to do to see how your plus-size DIY rocket engine performed after test firing.
And finally, it was a sweep for Jenny this week with our “Can’t Miss” articles, where she both pines for a simpler, smaller web experience and wonders what the future holds for biomass fuels.
Where to Follow Hackaday Podcast
Places to follow Hackaday podcasts:
iTunes
Spotify
Stitcher
RSS
YouTube
Check
out our Libsyn landing page
Download the zero-calorie MP3.
Episode 288 Show Notes:
News:
Supercon 2024: Show Off Your Unique Display Tech
Hackaday Discord #badge-hacking
Voyager 1 Completes Tricky Thruster Reconfiguration
Orion Ceases Operations, Future Of Meade Unclear
What’s that Sound?
Congratulations to [TechnoLibrarian] for recognizing the sound of a videotape loading.
Interesting Hacks of the Week:
Mobile Coffee Table Uses Legs To Get Around
Move Over Strandbeest, Here’s Strider!
Mechanical Linkage CAD For Everyone
A Strandbeest Bicycle
Tin Spider Is 13-foot Rideable Strandbeest
Why Walking Tanks Never Became A Thing
Hot Water Heater Hacked To Run On Solar Juice
Using A Potato As Photographic Recording Surface
Use Blueprint Process To Print On Fabric With Lasers
Hackaday Prize Entry: A Printer For Alternative Photography
Shedding New Light On The Voynich Manuscript With Multispectral Imaging
Why Have Seven Segments When You Can Have 21?
Oh Brother, Would You Look At This Cistercian Clock
Supercon 2024: Show Off Your Unique Display Tech
AdvancedCalculator/Fonts at main · pedasmith/AdvancedCalculator · GitHub
Segmented display designs
Custom Multi-Segment E-Ink Displays From Design To Driving
A Look Inside A DIY Rocket Motor
Quick Hacks:
Elliot’s Picks
Inkycal Makes Short Work Of E-Paper Dashboards
Microsoft Sculpt Keyboard Lives Again With RP2040
Cruise Ship-Lengthening Surgery: All The Cool Companies Are Doing It
Dan’s Picks:
The Apple Watch As An Ammeter
The Science Of Coating Steel
Glowing Egg Is A One-Oeuf Solution For Tracking Cycles
Can’t-Miss Articles:
A Look At The Small Web, Part 1
Gopher (protocol) – Wikipedia
If Wood Isn’t The Biomass Answer, What Is? | 0 | 0 | [] | 1,760,371,794.985104 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/09/13/recreating-a-popular-faux-nixie-clock/ | Recreating A Popular Faux-Nixie Clock | Tom Nardi | [
"clock hacks",
"Microcontrollers"
] | [
"clock",
"fake nixie",
"nixie clock",
"nixie tube",
"ntp",
"rtc"
] | There’s a good chance you’ve seen “Nixie clocks” on the Internet that replace the classic cold cathode tubes with similarly sized LCD panels. The hook is that the LCDs can show pictures and animations of Nixie tubes — or pretty much anything else for that matter — to recreate the look of the real thing, while being far cheaper and easier to produce. It’s a hack for sure, and that’s the way we like it.
[Trung Tran] liked the idea, but didn’t just want to buy a turn-key clock. So he’s decided to
build his own version based on the ESP32-S3
. The WiFi-enabled microcontroller syncs up to the latest time via NTP, then uses a PCF8563 real-time clock (RTC) module to keep from drifting too far off the mark. The six displays, which plug into the custom PCB backplane, can then show the appropriate digits for the time. Since they’re showing image files, you can use any sort of font or style you wish. Or you could show something else entirely — the demo video below shows off each panel running the
Matrix
“digital rain” effect.
Unfortunately, [Trung Tran] hasn’t shared a whole lot of technical info about this project yet. But between the Open Source Hardware logo on the PCB, and the fact that project page says “Part 1” at the top, we’re hopeful that more information is forthcoming.
We first saw the
commercial version of this concept back in 2021
, and had to admit, it was a pretty cool idea. It’s good to see the community creating their own versions, and if they end up being open hardware so that others can reproduce and improve the design, even better. | 15 | 6 | [
{
"comment_id": "8039734",
"author": "The Commenter Formerly Known As Ren",
"timestamp": "2024-09-13T15:56:36",
"content": "I think any project on Hackaday.io should include source code, BOM, and schematic.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "8039... | 1,760,371,795.119918 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/09/13/this-week-in-security-malicious-rollback-whois-and-more/ | This Week In Security: Malicious Rollback, WHOIS, And More | Jonathan Bennett | [
"Hackaday Columns",
"News",
"Security Hacks",
"Slider"
] | [
"Rollback",
"This Week in Security",
"WHOIS"
] | It’s time to talk about
Microsoft’s patch Tuesday
, and the odd vulnerability rollback that happened.
CVE-2024-43491
has caught some attention, as it’s a 9.8 on the CVSS scale, is under active exploitation, and results in Remote Code Execution (RCE). Yikes, it sounds terrible!
First off, what actually happened? The official statement is that “build version numbers crossed into a range that triggered a code defect”. We don’t know the exact details, but it’s something like an unsigned integer that was interpreted as a signed integer. A build number could have rolled over 32767, and what was intended to be 32768 or higher suddenly became −32767. Lots of “if greater than or equal” logic breaks down in that situation. Because of a logic flaw like this, certain versions of Windows 10 were unintentionally opting out of some historical security fixes.
And that’s where the high CVSS score and active exploitation descriptor comes from. This is simply the highest score of the resurgent flaws, and an acknowledgement that they have been exploited in the past. The good news is that this only applies to Windows 10 build 1507, so either the original install without any of the major updates installed, or one of the Windows 10 Enterprise Long-Term Servicing Branch (LTSB) versions. It seems that
the March 2024 monthly security update introduced the problem
, and it wasn’t fixed until this month’s updates.
Tracking Bikes, Busting Thieves
This is a bit different from our normal fare. [Bryan Hance] started
the Bike Index
, an online registry for high value bikes, with the goal of tracking and recovering bikes after they are stolen. After years of success tracking down bikes, there was something new brewing. Stolen bikes from California were showing up on Facebook Marketplace, for sale down in Mexico.
It was a literal international theft ring
, racking up a score of over $2 million worth of bicycles.
You know that feeling that you’re probably giving away too much personal information by having a Facebook account? It turns out that’s a good way to get busted for international crime, too. In this case, an account selling the bikes south of the border had a Facebook friend close to where the crimes were being committed. And some of the bike pictures included orange shelves. That was enough to identify an auto shop that was being used to stage the stolen bikes. One criminal arrested, but the rest of the operation is still running. Similar to the challenges of going after cybercriminals that operate from overseas, it’s a challenge for law enforcement to go after bike thieves across the southern border.
Don’t Let Those Domains Expire
Researchers at Watchtowr
just wanted to find a few vulnerabilities in WHOIS handling
. WHOIS is part of the domain name system, and returns contact information for domains. How exactly does that lookup happen? Broadly speaking, each top level domain has a WHOIS server, and the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) just publishes a list of server domain names for each TLD. What happens when a TLD changes their server name?
The
.mobi
TLD did just this, retiring
whois.dotmobiregistry.net
to move to a new domain. And by retire, we definitely mean abandon and completely forget about. Because the domain name registration was allowed to expire. And because they couldn’t help themselves, researchers at Watchtwr ran out and registered the domain. Surely there wouldn’t be any hosts in the wild still looking to this retired domain name for WHOIS data, right? Right? Based on the 76,085 unique IP address that hit the domain doing WHOIS lookup within the first three hours, we’re guessing that stale data is quite widespread.
The original attack was to prove that an exploit in WHOIS handling could actually be useful in the real world. But WHOIS data is actually used for some interesting cases. Like verifying SSL certificate requests. While they didn’t actually generate a forged certificate, it certainly looks like multiple certificate authorities would have gladly issued a
microsoft.mobi
certificate.
Sextortion Comes to your House
[Krebs] has the low-down on a new low in sextortion scams
. If you haven’t seen this exact breed of scammy spam messages, it’s usually an email that claims that compromising pictures were taken using your webcam. You’re supposed to then pay Bitcoin to get the scammer to delete the non-existent images. Once you understand that it’s just spam it’s easier to ignore. Until now. These spam messages are generally generated using information from data breaches, and sometimes those include street addresses.
The new trick is to grab an image from the Internet of that address, and include it in the spam message. It’s just a bit harder to ignore a spam email when it includes a picture of your house and front yard. But ignore them you should, as well as being careful with webcams and cell phones, because while
this
is just a spam message, illicit image capture does happen, and that’s worse than a simple spam email. That said, you’ll probably know when it happens to you — we presume they’ll show you a copy of the goods as motivation.
Bits and Bytes
Adobe Acrobat Reader has released
an update that fixes CVE-2024-41869
, a use-after-free vulnerability that could lead to RCE. To make it worse, there is an proof-of-concept exploit publicly available.
Elastic Kibana has
a deserialization flaw
related to its integration assistant in version 8.15.0. This YAML parsing issue was fixed with version 8.15.1, and requires both Elastisearch and Kibana privileges to exploit, but it’s a CVSS 9.9, so considered very severe and likely to be exploited.
The Apache Customer Relationship Management software, OFBiz,
has had a series of unauthenticated RCEs on both Linux and Windows
. It’s a series because of several incomplete patches of the root issue, followed by finally fixing it. The core flaw is that the server logic and the web client can desync, leading to incomplete security checking. 18.12.16 finally lands the fix. | 4 | 4 | [
{
"comment_id": "8039713",
"author": "LordNothing",
"timestamp": "2024-09-13T14:33:00",
"content": "im surprised the ms exploit didn’t involve the forced co-pilot install on win10. i asked it how to uninstall copilot and it was about as useless as i figured it would be.",
"parent_id": null,
... | 1,760,371,794.940408 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/09/13/doing-midi-with-discrete-logic-is-neat-if-not-particularly-useful/ | Doing MIDI With Discrete Logic Is Neat, If Not Particularly Useful | Lewin Day | [
"Musical Hacks"
] | [
"4017",
"4017 counter",
"4017 counter IC",
"discrete logic",
"midi"
] | MIDI is normally baked into the chipset of a synthesizer, or something you use a microcontroller to handle. But that’s not the only way to speak the language! [Kevin] decided to have some fun
doing MIDI with discrete logic instead,
with some pretty neat results.
[Kevin] had previously built a control voltage step sequencer called
the Baby8,
which relied on 4017 counter ICs. He later realized he could repurpose three of his old Baby8 PCBs to create something that could generate MIDI using nothing more than discrete logic. The stack of three boards generate a simple MIDI message—in this case, a two-byte Program Change command. At 8 bits per byte, plus a start and stop bit, that comes out to 20 bits in total. The bits to be sent are configured via the switches on the PCBs, and clocked out through the counter ICs via a clock running at the MIDI baud rate of 31,250 Hz.
Obviously, it’s not very practical to code your MIDI commands manually via DIP switches and then clock them out in this fashion. But—it does work, and you can do it! If you wanted to build an old-school logic circuit that just spits out simple short MIDI commands, this is one way to go about it.
We’ve seen [Kevin]’s work before, too,
like this neat musical rotary phone build
. | 4 | 3 | [
{
"comment_id": "8039719",
"author": "make piece not war",
"timestamp": "2024-09-13T14:52:24",
"content": "Let’s make this interesting. All you need are three big buttons and a microcontroller. In any state, one button does nothing and the other two if pressed randomizes the midi settings and the ro... | 1,760,371,795.023562 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/09/13/simple-pcb-agitator-gets-the-job-done/ | Simple PCB Agitator Gets The Job Done | Lewin Day | [
"PCB Hacks",
"Tool Hacks"
] | [
"agitator",
"etch",
"etching",
"pcb",
"pcb agitator",
"PCB etching"
] | These days, PCB fab houses are just about everywhere, and you can’t go buy a taco without walking past eight of them. Still, some out there still like to etch their PCBs at home. If that sounds like you,
you might see some value in [Chris Borge]’s PCB agitator.
The design mostly relies on 3D printed parts, including the main body. It has a heavy base which is filled with concrete to keep it nicely weighed down on the table. A table for holding a PCB and fluid tank is then installed on top, via a bearing which allows it to pivot in one axis. An Arduino Nano commands the agitation of the table top, and hence the PCB etching tank, with a servo used to actually shift the table back and forth.
It’s a simple design — far simpler than some of the advanced coffee-making hardware we’ve seen recently. Regardless, it gets the job done, and done well! In testing, it accelerated [Chris]’s etching jobs significantly, we’re talking hours here. Meanwhile, if you don’t have a 3D printer on hand,
you could always try building one out of junk instead! | 17 | 6 | [
{
"comment_id": "8039658",
"author": "easy",
"timestamp": "2024-09-13T08:30:58",
"content": "I always just throw some ferric chloride on the stove and let the boiling do the agitation. Boards usually etch in under 20 seconds…",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
... | 1,760,371,795.174847 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/09/12/theres-already-a-nixie-addon-for-the-2024-supercon-badge/ | There’s Already A Nixie Addon For The 2024 Supercon Badge | Lewin Day | [
"contests"
] | [
"2024 Hackaday Supercon",
"2024 Supercon SAO Contest",
"contests",
"nixie",
"nixie tube",
"Simple Add-On"
] | Nixie tubes are cool, and hackers like them. Perhaps for those reasons more than any other, [Kevin Santo Cappuccio] has developed
a very particular Simple Add-On for the 2024 Hackaday Supercon badge
.
Rad, no?
The build began with a Burroughs 122P224 Nixie tube, and a HV8200 power supply. The latter component is key—it’s capable of turning voltages as low as 3 V into the 180V needed to power a Nixie. Then, an 18-position selector switch was pulled out of a resistance substitution box, and [Kevin] whipped up a basic DIY slip ring using some raw copper clad board.
Smoosh it all together, and what do you get? It’s a Nixie tube you can spin to change the number it displays. Useful? Hardly, unless you want to display varying glowing numbers to people at unreadable angles. Neat? Very. Just don’t touch any of the pins carrying 180 V, that’ll sting. Still,
[Kevin] told us it’s pretty tucked away.
“I’m totally comfortable touching it, but also would get sued into oblivion selling these on Amazon,” he says.
As [Kevin] notes in his post, the 2024 badge
is all about the add-ons—
and there’s actually
a contest!
We suspect [Kevin] will have a strong chance of taking out the Least Manufacturable title.
If you need more information about the Simple Add-On (SAO) interface, [Brian Benchoff] posted
the V1.69bis standard on these very pages back in 2019.
Apparently the S used to stand for something else. Video after the break. | 0 | 0 | [] | 1,760,371,795.066574 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/09/12/back-up-your-data-on-paper-with-lots-of-qr-codes/ | Back Up Your Data On Paper With Lots Of QR Codes | Lewin Day | [
"Software Hacks"
] | [
"backup",
"command line",
"linux",
"paper",
"pdf",
"print",
"printer",
"qr",
"qr code",
"QR codes"
] | QR codes are used just about everywhere now, for checking into venues, ordering food, or just plain old advertising. But what about data storage? It’s hardly efficient, but if you want to store your files in a ridiculous paper format—
there’s a way to do that, too!
QR-Backup was developed by [za3k], and is currently available as a command-line Linux tool only. It takes a file or files, and turns them into a “paper backup”—a black-and white PDF file full of QR codes that’s ready to print. That’s legitimately the whole deal—you run the code, generate the PDF, then print the file. That piece of paper is now your backup. Naturally, qr-backup works in reverse, too. You can use a scanner or webcam to recover your files from the printed page.
Currently, it achieves a storage density of 3KB/page, and [za3k] says backups of text in the single-digit megabyte range are “practical.” You can alternatively print smaller, denser codes for up to 130 KB/page.
Is it something you’ll ever likely need? No. Is it super neat and kind of funny? Yes, very much so.
We’ve seen some other neat uses for QR codes before, too—
like this printer that turns digital menus into paper ones
. If you’ve got your own nifty uses for these attractive squares,
let us know! | 59 | 24 | [
{
"comment_id": "8039592",
"author": "Sam",
"timestamp": "2024-09-13T02:20:56",
"content": "I vaguely remember (years and years ago) seeing an advertisement or a website for a software product that turned your files into barcodes, which you could then fax (!) to other people. They could then scan th... | 1,760,371,795.522388 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/09/11/2024-tiny-games-contest-micro-one-armed-bandit-hits-the-cuteness-jackpot/ | 2024 Tiny Games Contest: Micro One-Armed Bandit Hits The Cuteness Jackpot | Kristina Panos | [
"contests",
"Games"
] | [
"2024 Tiny Games Challenge",
"QT Py",
"SAMD21"
] | They don’t call slot machines one-armed bandits for nothing. And although it’s getting harder and harder to find slot machines with actual pull-able handles instead of just big buttons, you can easily simulate the handle at home with the right kind of limit switch, as [Andrew Smith] did with
this micro slot machine
.
This baby slot machine is built around the Adafruit 5×5 NeoPixel grid, which is an add-on for the QT Py. As you’ll see in the brief demo video after the break, the switch actuates on release, which starts the lights a-spinning. [Andrew] says the constraints of the SAMD21-powered QT Py made this a particularly fun challenge.
Whereas most physical slot machines have different reel sequences, this build uses just one. [Andrew] declared hex values to ID each color, and then created the reel manually with different color frequencies. When the lever is released, the columns are animated and slowly to come to rest at a random offset.
You can check out the code on GitHub
. | 3 | 3 | [
{
"comment_id": "8039493",
"author": "Piotrsko",
"timestamp": "2024-09-12T17:34:46",
"content": "Igt or whoever they are nowadays still builds the one arm bandits. Seems to be a requirement in some places, but they are custom buikds",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
... | 1,760,371,795.563857 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/09/11/train-speed-signaling-adapted-for-car/ | Train Speed Signaling Adapted For Car | Bryan Cockfield | [
"Transportation Hacks"
] | [
"boston",
"car",
"gps",
"indicator",
"led",
"mbta",
"obd-ii",
"power supply",
"reverse engineering",
"signaling",
"speed",
"speedometer",
"train"
] | One major flaw of designing societies around cars is the sheer amount of signage that drivers are expected to recognize, read, and react to. It’s a highly complex system that requires constant vigilance to a relatively boring task with high stakes, which is not something humans are particularly well adapted for. Modern GPS equipment can solve a few of these attention problems, with some able to at least show the current speed limit and perhaps an ongoing information feed of the current driving conditions., Trains, on the other hand, solved a lot of these problems long ago. [Philo] and [Tris], two train aficionados,
were recently able to get an old speed indicator from a train and get it working in a similar way in their own car
.
The speed indicator itself came from a train on the Red Line of the T, Boston’s subway system run by the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA). Trains have a few unique ways of making sure they go the correct speed for whatever track they’re on as well as avoid colliding with other trains, and this speed indicator is part of that system. [Philo] and [Tris] found out through some reverse engineering that most of the parts were off-the-shelf components, and were able to repair a few things as well as eventually power everything up. With the help of an Arduino, an I/O expander, and some transistors to handle the 28V requirement for the speed indicator, the pair set off in their car to do some real-world testing.
This did take a few tries to get right, as there were some issues with the power supply as well as some bugs to work out in order to interface with the vehicle’s OBD-II port. They also tried to use GPS for approximating speed as well, and after a few runs around Boston they were successful in getting this speed indicator working as a speedometer for their car. It’s an impressive bit of reverse engineering as well as interfacing newer technology with old. For some other bits of train technology reproduced in the modern world
you might also want to look at this recreation of a train whistle
. | 33 | 6 | [
{
"comment_id": "8039333",
"author": "TG",
"timestamp": "2024-09-12T02:10:19",
"content": "I always thought that obsessively trying to stay dead-on the exact posted speed limit and looking over your fiddly indicators and dials was detrimental to safety. Keep a general speed around the posted limit a... | 1,760,371,795.941262 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/09/11/hacking-an-nvidia-cmp-170hx-crypto-gpu-for-em-sim-work/ | Hacking An NVIDIA CMP 170HX Crypto GPU For EM Sim Work | Dave Rowntree | [
"hardware"
] | [
"crypto",
"electromagnetic",
"etherium",
"NVIDIA",
"nvidia A100",
"simulation"
] | A few years back NVIDIA created a dedicated cryptocurrency mining GPU, the CMP 170HX. This was a heavily restricted version of its flagship A100 datacenter accelerator, using the same GA100 chip. It was intended for accelerating Ethash, the Etherium proof-of-work algorithm, and nothing else. [niconiconi] bought one to use for accelerating PCB electromagnetic simulations and put a
lot
of effort into repairing the card, converting it to water-cooling, and figuring out
how best to use this nobbled GPU
.
Typically, the GA100 silicon sits in the center of the mighty A100 GPU card and would be found in a server rack, cooled by forced air. This was not an option at home, so an off-the-shelf water-cooling block was wedged in. During this process, [niconconi] found that the board wouldn’t power on, so they went on a deep dive into the power supply tree with the help of a leaked A100 schematic. The repair and modifications can be found in the appendix, right down to the end of the article. It is a
long
read to get there.
This Nvidia GA100 GPU is severely crippled on this board
NVIDIA has a history of deliberately restricting silicon in consumers’ hands to justify the hefty price tags of its offerings to big businesses, and this board is no different. The plan was to restrict the peak performance of the board to only applications with the same compute requirements as Ethash, specifically memory-intensive algorithms. The FP64 performance was severely limited, but instructions were not removed. This meant the code would run really badly, considering what the GPU is capable of.
The memory was limited to 8 GB, despite some A100 cards hosting a whopping 80 GB. The strategy was to use fuses to limit the crucial instructions, particularly the FP32 FMA and MAD instructions, which are used for multiply-add operations and are crucial for general computing applications. Finally, the PCIe bus was nobbled to run only as a Gen 1 interface with a single lane. They reduced the lane count by removing the coupling capacitors on the PCB, which meant they could just be added later, but it’s still only a slow interface.
[niconconi] went into great detail benchmarking the instruction types, keeping their EM simulation application in mind. After a few tweaks to make it work, they determined it was a good purchase. This article is worth reading for all those hardcore GPU nerds!
If you need a primer on GPU mining,
we’ve got you covered
. Once you’ve understood proof-of-work crypto, perhaps
take a look at Chia
?
Thanks to [gnif] for the tip! | 7 | 5 | [
{
"comment_id": "8039362",
"author": "shinsukke",
"timestamp": "2024-09-12T05:37:17",
"content": "I’m looking into buying an nVIDIA Tesla M40 24GB for running LLMs. They seem to be cheap enough these days but I still cannot say any GPU with LLM worthy VRAM is a good deal",
"parent_id": null,
... | 1,760,371,795.733287 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/09/11/ibms-1969-educational-computing/ | IBM’s 1969 Educational Computing | Alexander Rowsell | [
"computer hacks",
"Retrocomputing"
] | [
"1960s",
"ibm",
"IBM Hursley",
"IBM museum",
"retro computer clone",
"schools computer"
] | IBM got their PCs and PS/2 computers into schools in the 1980s and 1990s. We fondly remember educational games like Super Solvers: Treasure Mountain. However, IBM had been trying to get into the educational market long before the PC. In 1969, the IBM Schools Computer System Unit was developed. Though it never reached commercial release, ten were made, and they were deployed to pilot schools. One remained in use for almost a decade! And now, there’s a new one — well, a
replica of IBM’s experimental school computer
by [Menadue], at least. You can check it out in the video below.
The internals were based somewhat on the IBM System/360’s technology. Interestingly, it used a touch-sensitive keypad instead of a traditional keyboard. From what we’ve read, it seems this system had a lot of firsts: the first system to use a domestic TV as an output device, the first system to use a cassette deck as a storage medium, and the first purpose-built educational computer. It was developed at IBM Hursley in the UK and used magnetic core memory. It used BCD for numerical display instead of hexadecimal or octal, with floating point numbers as a basic type. It also used 32-bit registers, though they stored BCD digits and not binary. In short, this thing was way ahead of its time.
[Menadue] saw the machine at the
IBM Hursley museum
and liked it so much that he proceeded to build a prototype machine based partially on a document shown at the museum that showed the instructions. Further research revealed a complete document explaining the instruction set. The initial prototype was made on a small PCB with a Raspberry Pi Pico W, an OLED display, and key switches, which proved that he understood the system enough to replicate it.
An inside view
After that prototype, work began on the replica. It’s a half-scale model, but it does use a touch keyboard like the original. The attention to detail is nice, with the colours of the case matching and even a small IBM logo replica on the front! It’s made from a metal chassis, with the keyboard surround being plastic (as on the original) so as not to interfere with the touch keyboard. It’s programmed using the same set of instructions as the original — a combination of low-level commands, similar to assembly for microprocessors, but with an extra set of slightly higher-level instructions that IBM called Extra Codes. For a more in-depth explanation, check out
the video going over the original system and the prototype replica
!
Photos courtesy of IBM Hursley Museum | 10 | 5 | [
{
"comment_id": "8039297",
"author": "Miles Archer",
"timestamp": "2024-09-11T21:15:05",
"content": "Wow. My dad worked on education software at IBM in the late 60s and he never mentioned this. Pretty advanced for 1969.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment... | 1,760,371,795.86795 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/09/11/floss-weekly-episode-800-champagning-the-ladybird-browser/ | FLOSS Weekly Episode 800: Champagning The Ladybird Browser | Jonathan Bennett | [
"Hackaday Columns",
"Podcasts",
"Slider"
] | [
"browser",
"FLOSS Weekly",
"SerenityOS"
] | This week
Jonathan Bennett
and
Aaron Newcomb
chat with
Andreas Kling
about Ladybird, the new browser in development from the ground up. It was started as part of SerenityOS, and has since taken on a life of its own. How much of the web works on it? How many people are working on the project? And where’s the download button? Listen to find out!
https://awesomekling.com/
https://ladybird.org/
https://ladybird.org/posts/fork/
https://ladybird.org/posts/announcement/
https://ladybird.org/posts/why-ladybird/
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 | 5 | 4 | [
{
"comment_id": "8039295",
"author": "Inhibit",
"timestamp": "2024-09-11T20:56:22",
"content": "Remember to browse responsibly with all that bubbly.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "8039691",
"author": "Publius Anonymous",
"timestamp": "2... | 1,760,371,795.681918 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/09/11/supercon-2023-aleksa-bjelogrlic-dives-into-circuits-that-measure-circuits/ | Supercon 2023: Aleksa Bjelogrlic Dives Into Circuits That Measure Circuits | Lewin Day | [
"cons",
"Hackaday Columns",
"Slider"
] | [
"analog design",
"circuit design",
"design",
"digital Oscilloscope",
"front end",
"oscilloscope",
"USB 3"
] | Oscilloscopes are one of our favorite tools for electronics development. They make the hidden dances of electrons visually obvious to us, and give us a clear understanding of what’s actually going on in a circuit.
The question few of us ever ask is, how do they work? Most specifically—how do you design a circuit that’s intended to measure another circuit? Aleksa Bjelogrlic has pondered that very idea, and came down to explain it all to us
at the 2023 Hackaday Supercon.
All Up Front
Aleksa’s scope design had humble beginnings.
Aleksa has spent five years designing an open-source oscilloscope known as the ThunderScope. He wanted an oscilloscope that could measure a circuit while streaming out samples at speed to a computer, so he decided to build his own. His idea was to put the analog part of a high-speed scope in a box, while offloading the digital processing to an attached computer. This would allow the software side of things to be regularly updated to stay with the times. It would be easy to add new triggers or protocol decoders to the setup without having to mess with the hardware.
His early experiments saw him streaming samples from a test scope he built, but it wasn’t perfect. He used USB 3 Gen 1, but it was only giving him 350 MB/s transfer rates. He needed closer to 1 GB/sec to properly stream samples of high-speed signals. He also had issues with his front-end design, with poor frequency response. He soon switched over to PCI-Express for higher transfer rates, and built a new scope with a better front-end. This was the first revision of ThunderScope. Later revisions improved the front end further, tackled clock-generator issues, and generally refined the design into something more functional and useful.
The front end has been one of the main areas of improvement and revision as Aleksa has worked on the ThunderScope.
The development process is mere context, though. The real purpose of Aleksa’s talk was to dive into the nitty gritty of oscilloscope front-end designs. While his scope has had four major revisions, the front end has had over a dozen updates. The front end’s job is to take an analog signal, and finesse it into something that the scope’s analog-to-digital converter can actually handle. It’s job is, in part, to act as an electrical interface to allow the scope to measure all kinds of different signals. Aleksa explains that it can allow you to view AC signals superimposed on large DC voltages, or measure large signals beyond the voltage range of the scope’s ADC. It can also help scale signals that might otherwise be out of range for the ADC itself.
Aleksa explains input impedance, capacitance of the front end, and why you have to compensate a probe to suit your individual scope. He also covers the eternal challenge facing the designer—minimizing noise while maximising bandwidth, while also maintaining a flat response from DC all the way up to high frequency signals. And of course, you need to be able to measure and quantify how your front end is performing, so Aleksa dips into the basics in that regard.
AC and DC coupling is also covered. This is critical for when you want to look at an AC waveform without all that annoying DC bias in the way. Naturally, this is achieved with an in-line capacitor, which blocks DC while allowing the AC component to pass. Then there’s the helpful discussion about how resistors come with stray capacitance and inductance “for free”—and capacitors in turn come with resistance and inductance, too. When you’re chasing around weird dips in your response curve, you’ve got to be across these things.
That’s a horrifying response curve, but Aleksa was eventually able to track down the culprit and eliminate the dip.
If you’ve ever considered creating your own oscilloscope from scratch, Aleksa’s talk is a great primer. It’s really useful stuff. After all, getting the front end right is as important as getting the right tires on your car. If it’s not up to the task, all your measurements will be suspect from the drop. It’s a deep and rich topic, and one that you could spend years studying in detail. Indeed, Aleksa has, and his work on the ThunderScope is the ultimate proof of that. | 10 | 5 | [
{
"comment_id": "8039258",
"author": "The Commenter Formerly Known As Ren",
"timestamp": "2024-09-11T18:19:16",
"content": "“Aleksa, make me an oscilloscope.”B^)",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "8039290",
"author": "paulvdh",
"timestamp":... | 1,760,371,795.991578 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/09/11/using-a-potato-as-photographic-recording-surface/ | Using A Potato As Photographic Recording Surface | Maya Posch | [
"chemistry hacks"
] | [
"analog photography",
"blueprint",
"photogram",
"silver nitrate"
] | Following in the tracks of unconventional science projects, [The Thought Emporium] seeks to answer the question of whether you can use a
potato as a photograph recording medium
. This is less crazy than it sounds, as ultimately analog photographs (and
photograms
) is about inducing a light-based change in some kind of medium, which raises the question of whether there is anything about potatoes that is light-sensitive enough to be used for capturing an image, or what we can add to make it suitable.
Unfortunately, a potato by itself cannot record light as it is just starch and salty water, so it needs a bit of help. Here [The Thought Emporium] takes us through the history of black and white photography, starting with a UV-sensitive mixture consisting out of turmeric and rubbing alcohol. After filtration and staining a sheet of paper with it, exposing only part of the paper to strong UV light creates a clear image, which can be intensified using a borax solution. Unfortunately this method fails to work on a potato slice.
The next attempt was to create a
cyanotype
, which involves covering a surface in a solution of 25 g ferric ammonium oxalate, 10 g of potassium ferricyanide and 100 mL water and exposing it to UV light. This creates the brilliant blue that gave us the term ‘blueprint’. As it turns out, this method works really well on potato slices too, with lots of detail, but the exposure process is very slow.
Speeding up cyanotype production is done by spraying the surface with an ammonium oxalate and oxalic acid solution to modify the pH, exposing the surface to UV, and then spraying it with a 10 g / 100 mL potassium ferricyanide solution, leading to fast exposure and good details.
This is still not as good on paper as an all-time favorite using silver-nitrate, however. These silver prints are the staple of black and white photography, with the silver halide reacting very quickly to light exposure, after which a fixer, like sodium thiosulfate, can make the changes permanent. When using cyanotype or silver-nitrate film like this in a 35 mm camera, it does work quite well too, but of course creates a negative image, that requires inverting, done digitally in the video, to tease out the recorded image.
Here the disappointment for potatoes hit, as using the developer with potatoes was a soggy no-go. Ideally a solution like that used with direct positive paper that uses a silver solution suspended in a gel, but creates a positive image unlike plain silver-nitrate. As for the idea of using the potato itself as the camera, this was also briefly attempted to by using a pinhole in a potato and a light-sensitive recording surface on the other side, but the result did indeed look like a potato was used to create the photograph. | 11 | 6 | [
{
"comment_id": "8039218",
"author": "clancydaenlightened",
"timestamp": "2024-09-11T16:04:01",
"content": "You can use potato to create color photosUsing an emulsion and color filterMashed potato mix “Kodak” filmI think there was a post about somewhere here",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
... | 1,760,371,796.202421 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/09/11/lithium-ion-battery-hotswapping-polarity-holders/ | Lithium-Ion Battery Hotswapping, Polarity, Holders | Arya Voronova | [
"Battery Hacks",
"Featured",
"Skills",
"Slider"
] | [
"18650",
"Lithium-ion battery"
] | Everyone loves, and should respect, lithium-ion batteries. They pack a ton of power and can make our projects work better. I’ve gathered a
number of tips and tricks about using them over the years
, based on my own hacking and also lessons I’ve learned from others.
This installment includes a grab-bag of LiIon tricks that will help you supercharge your battery use, avoid some mistakes, and make your circuits even safer. Plus, I have a wonderful project that I just have to share.
Hot-swapping Cells
When your device runs out of juice, you might not always want to chain yourself to a wall charger. Wouldn’t it be cool if you could just hot-swap cells? Indeed it is, I’ve been doing it for years, it’s dead simple to support, but you can also do it wrong. Let me show you how to do it right!
Recently, a new handheld has hit the hacker markets – the Hackberry Pi. With a Blackberry keyboard and a colour screen, it’s a pretty standard entry into the trend of handheld Pi Zero-backed computers with Blackberry keyboards. It’s not open-source and the author does not plan to open-source its hardware, so I want to make it absolutely clear I don’t consider it hacker-friendly or worth promoting. It did publish schematics, though, and these helped me find a dangerous mistake that the first revision made when trying to implement LiIon battery hot-swap.
This is not how you connect batteries in parallel,
It uses BL-5C cells, which are widely available as aftermarket batteries for Nokia phones. It’s a smart choice, though it’s worth remembering that vendors constantly inflate the capacity on the label, and my gut feel is that the more inflated the number is, the more shady the cell you’re getting. Remember, there’s a physical limit to the capacity you can shove into a certain cell volume, with 18650s limited to about 3500 mAh, as the market offerings show. (And if you try to put more capacity into a cell of certain volume, you get the Galaxy Note 7. Ahem.)
The batteries in the Hackberry Pi should be hot-swappable – no supercaps, they’re just in parallel with nothing in between the cells. Nothing in between? Question – what happens when you connect two batteries, one charged and one discharged, in parallel? Remember, LiIon batteries can give out a ton of current, and phone batteries doubly so due to the GSM modem peak current requirements. Decent voltage difference, very low resistance – you get a lot of current flowing, discharging the full cell needlessly or causing a brownout at best, and charring PCB tracks at worst.
but just two more components make it a fair bit better.
The easy solution is to use PTC resettable fuses in series with the positive or negative terminal, either between each cell, or just one between two cells. If current surges sharply, the fuse will heat up and increase its resistance, limiting the current.
But remember, a fuse’s current rating is deceiving, and a 2 A fuse won’t actually trip at exactly 2.1 A. This is beneficial for you, though – while doing hotswap, one cell will have to produce twice the current than normally, even if for a short moment. Also, remember to size the cell protection fuse not just for device consumption, but also the charging current it will receive!
It’s certain that the new Hackberry Pi revision will fix this, and if you have the first revision, just swap batteries carefully and you will be 100% fine. Hotswap doesn’t have to be complicated – now you all know how to do a very simple form of it. Oh, and, having adding the fuse, you can easily get a good few extra features with only a few components, like, say, polarity protection!
The Polarity Hacks
With 18650 holders, it’s easy to insert a cell the wrong way by accident – I’ve burned out a good few boards like that, spending precious hours and dollars replacing burned out components. A 18650 cell holds a ton of energy and can burn out a lot of silicon very easily. Or if you’re using pouch cells using JST-PH connectors, you have to watch out for two polarity conventions. In short, polarity reversal is a real risk. How do you protect from it?
The reverse polarity crowbar circuit is a dead simple way to add polarity protection – all you need is a diode across the battery, placed after the fuse, flipped in a way that it will conduct when the polarity is wrong, tripping the fuse before any circuitry is damaged. The diode’s rating has to be higher than the fuse’s trip point – otherwise, the diode will burn out before the fuse trips, negating the circuit. I’ve tested this, it works, it’s now being manufactured in hundreds.
You might also want the user, whether you or someone else (especially someone else!) to quickly notice that the polarity is flipped. The solution is simple – add a LED and a resistor flipped in a way it lights up when the cell is reversed, before the fuse. Use a red or orange LED to make it crystal clear that something is wrong; don’t use green or blue, or any colours that often mean “the device is working normally”; add silkscreen markings to indicate that this is a “wrong polarity” LED.
With a simple no-frills layout, you can support two polarities at once,
either using two resistors and shifting them as needed,
or even using PCB track jumpers for your default polarity.
Back to cells with JST-PH connectors. Are you developing a project that will get into hackers’ hands, and you don’t want to have them rewire their entire LiIon cell arsenal just for your device? Thankfully, 0 R resistors save the day; it’s dead simple to add two pairs of 0603 0R’s next to a JST-PH 2-pin connector. Make one polarity the default, and leave the option of switching the polarity in there. Again, this goes before the fuse, and before the reverse polarity LED, too. Of course, your users will have to make sure the red wire goes to positive, but at least you’re helping them get there.
This quickly, we have dealt with a number of polarity problems, using barely any components, all of them cheap, no fancy ICs. Your boards deserve to be fail-proof, serving you no matter the mistakes you make.
A New 18650 Holder Enters The Scene
Leaf contact holders are great. Unlike spring holders, they’re low-inductance, high-current, resillient to shocks, reliable, and cheap to find. Unfortunately, the leaf often catches on the cell’s heatshrink ends when you unplug the battery, slowly tearing it off piece by piece, and at some point even causing the positive terminal protective ring to detach – which risks a massive short-circuit as you unplug the battery or just drop the holder hard enough. Not great!
I’ve developed a pretty unique holder for 18650s, that I currently use for a pretty substantial portable device project of mine. It’s got all the advantages of spring holders, but it wraps around the battery fully, protecting it from shocks and the elements, and closes with a twist-on locking cap. Plus, it’s belt-mountable, thanks to a 3D-printed holder. It lends itself wonderfully to hotswap, too! Most of all, it’s fully 3D printable. All you need is some threaded inserts and some leaf contacts from Keystone that I found on Mouser – a baggie with 25 of them is quite cheap, and worth the money. (Remember to scroll through categories for things like battery contacts, you will find cool stuff!) There are definitely drawbacks to this type of holder, but it’s seriously great.
Just a few threaded inserts and screws, and off you go!
It’s parametric,
designed in FreeCAD,
so you can change a fair few parameters without breaking a sweat. The holder is designed for quick swap – just twist the cap and the battery falls out. Swapping 18650 cells is a cakewalk. High current consumption: tested; portability: tested; not damaging the cell wrappers: tested. I’ve been actively using these holders for about nine months now – they fulfilled their purpose and far more.
There’s something that makes it feel like military equipment, but I can assure you that it’s not designed by the lowest bidder. Put these on a belt, screw these into a project, or slap two of them together back to back – maybe even lengthen it and use three cells in series! Thanks to someone’s advice from Twitter, there are also vent holes at the positive terminal’s place. (Of course, if your cell starts venting, you have a big problem on your hands no matter what you’re using.) Still, it’s got these holes, in addition to ten other features. And it’s printable vertically with no supports.
Are there possible failure modes? Absolutely. The main one is the cylinder breaking across the layer lines under pressure, especially if you drop it. I’ve tried printing the holder laying down, so that layer lines are aligned differently, but cleaning the tube from internal supports is damn brutal and the tolerances for the 18650 inside are pretty tight. I’m going to pick up a roll of PLA-Plus, since it supposedly is more strong, and print a new set of holders. If you print it, let us know!
Another failure mode is the springs compressing over time. I might be overcompressing the metal, so I just ought to check the datasheets and adjust the width. Of course, strong compression is a plus, but it’s of no use if the holder starts being super bump-sensitive after a few months of use. Last but not least, the positive wire is a failure point, though the channel i’ve recently introduced mostly fixes that.
More To Come
There are a few additions in the queue for the v3 holder. One is unifying the threaded inserts so that you don’t have to buy too many different ones, and improving mounting for the belt holster to limit the molten plastic backflow. Another is adding strips on the side that’d be a base for a long metal plate, which would acts as extra backing for the 18650 holder. The only problem is finding a suitable metal plate – flat, 70 mm long, about 4 mm wide, with screw holes alongside, or, at least, on both ends. Anyone have any ideas, especially if it’s something commonly found that can be repurposed?
I’m currently working on a custom PCB for this holder – involving protection, fuse holding, reverse polarity protection and warning LED, and maybe even an opamp circuit for roughly measuring the battery voltage. In short, including all of the tips shared here.
What are your favorite tricks for using lithium batteries? | 29 | 9 | [
{
"comment_id": "8039187",
"author": "LookAtDaShinyShiny",
"timestamp": "2024-09-11T14:12:37",
"content": "Page not found on the github link for the battery holder…",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "8039214",
"author": "Arya Voronova",
... | 1,760,371,796.069756 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/09/11/voyager-1-completes-tricky-thruster-reconfiguration/ | Voyager 1 Completes Tricky Thruster Reconfiguration | Maya Posch | [
"News",
"Space"
] | [
"thruster",
"voyager"
] | After 47 years it’s little wonder that the hydrazine-powered thrusters of the Voyager 1, used to orient the spacecraft in such a way that its 3.7 meter (12 foot) diameter antenna always points back towards Earth, are getting somewhat clogged up. As a result, the team has
now switched back to the thrusters
which they originally retired back in 2018. The Voyager spacecraft each have three sets (branches) of thrusters. Two sets were originally intended for attitude propulsion, and one for trajectory correction maneuvers, but since leaving the Solar System many years ago, Voyager 1’s navigational needs have become more basic, allowing all three sets to be used effectively interchangeably.
The first set was used until 2002, when clogging of the fuel tubes was detected with silicon dioxide from an aging rubber diaphragm in the fuel tank. The second set of attitude propulsion thrusters was subsequently used until 2018, until clogging caused the team to switch to the third and final set. It is this last set that is now more clogged then the second set, with the fuel tube opening reduced from about 0.25 mm to 0.035 mm. Unlike a few decades ago, the spacecraft is much colder due energy-conserving methods, complicating the switching of thruster sets. Switching on a cold thruster set could damage it, so it had to be warmed up first with its thruster heaters.
The conundrum was where to temporarily borrow power from, as turning off one of the science instruments might be enough to not have it come back online. Ultimately a main heater was turned off for an hour, allowing the thruster swap to take place and allowing Voyager 1 to breathe a bit more freely for now.
Compared to the
recent scare involving Voyager 1
where we thought that its computer systems might have died, this matter probably feels more routine to the team in charge, but with a spacecraft that’s the furthest removed man-made spacecraft in outer space, nothing is ever truly routine. | 35 | 8 | [
{
"comment_id": "8039154",
"author": "Jane Phillips",
"timestamp": "2024-09-11T11:40:37",
"content": "Wow",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "8039170",
"author": "The Commenter Formerly Known as Ren",
"timestamp": "2024-09-11T12:46:46",
... | 1,760,371,796.146602 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/09/11/a-look-inside-a-diy-rocket-motor/ | A Look Inside A DIY Rocket Motor | Dan Maloney | [
"Space"
] | [
"Deconstruction",
"graphite",
"Nozzle",
"phenolic",
"post-mortem",
"rocketry",
"solid rocket motor",
"test"
] | [Joe Barnard] made a solid propellant rocket motor, and as one does in such situations, he put it through its paces on the test stand.
The video below
is not about the test, nor is it about the motor’s construction. Rather, it’s a deconstruction of the remains of the motor in order to better understand its design, and it’s pretty interesting stuff.
Somewhere along the way, [Joe], aka “BPS.Space” on YouTube, transitioned from
enthusiastic model rocketeer
to full-fledged missile-man, and in the process stepped up his motor game considerably. The motor that goes under the knife — or rather, the bandsaw — in this video is his “Simplex V2,” a completely DIY build of [Joe]’s design. For scale, the casing is made from a 6″ (15 cm) diameter piece of aluminum tubing over a meter in length, with a machined aluminum forward closure and a composite nozzle assembly. This is a pretty serious piece of engineering.
The closure and the nozzle are the focus of the video, which makes sense since that’s where most of the action takes place. To understand what happened during the test, [Joe] lopped them off and cut them roughly in half longitudinally. The nozzle throat, which was machined from a slug of graphite, fared remarkably well during the test, accumulating only a little slag from the propellant, a combination of powdered aluminum, ammonium perchlorate, and HTBP resin. The lower part of the nozzle, made from phenolic-impregnated linen, did pretty well too, building up a pyrolyzed layer that acted much like a space capsule’s ablative heat shield would. The forward closure, whose sole job is to contain the inferno and direct the exhaust anywhere but up, took more of a beating but stood up to the challenge. Especially interesting was the state of the O-rings and the way that the igniter interfaced with the closure.
Post mortems like these are valuable teaching tools, and while it must be heartbreaking to destroy something you put so much work into, you can’t improve what you can’t measure. Hats off to [Joe] for the peek inside his world. | 7 | 3 | [
{
"comment_id": "8039228",
"author": "Laurence",
"timestamp": "2024-09-11T16:30:57",
"content": "Might be a good idea to add a disclaimer that this is illegal in some countries like the UK, as it’s classed as manufacturing explosives.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{... | 1,760,371,796.294447 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/09/10/the-apple-watch-as-an-ammeter/ | The Apple Watch As An Ammeter | Jenny List | [
"Tool Hacks",
"Wearable Hacks"
] | [
"Ammeter",
"apple watch",
"magnetometer"
] | Your shiny new personal electronic device is likely to be designed solely as an app platform to run the products of faceless corporations, so the story goes, and therefore has an ever smaller hacking potential. Perhaps that view is needlessly pessimistic, because here’s [JP3141] with an example that goes against the grain.
It’s an Apple Watch, being used as an ammeter
. How it does that comes as the result of a delicious piece of lateral thinking.
Like many mobile devices, the device comes with a magnetometer. This serves as an electronic compass, but it’s also as its name might suggest, an instrument for sensing magnetic fields in three axes. With a 3D printed bobbin that slides over the watch, and a few turns of wire, it can sense the magnetic field created by the current, and a measurement can be derived from it. The software on the watch is only a simple proof of concept as yet, but it applies some fairly understandable high-school physics to provide a useful if unexpected measure of current.
We’re surprised to see just how many times the Apple Watch has appeared on these pages, but scanning past projects it was a cosmetic one which caught our eye.
Who wouldn’t want a tiny Mac Classic
! | 3 | 2 | [
{
"comment_id": "8039508",
"author": "Elliot Williams",
"timestamp": "2024-09-12T19:00:54",
"content": "C’mon folks, this is an awesome hack! Why hasn’t anyone done this on their cellphone?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "8039536",
"author"... | 1,760,371,796.245266 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/09/10/cruise-ship-lengthening-surgery-all-the-cool-companies-are-doing-it/ | Cruise Ship-Lengthening Surgery: All The Cool Companies Are Doing It | Maya Posch | [
"Transportation Hacks"
] | [
"cruise line",
"shipbuilding",
"ships"
] | Sliding in an extra slice of cruise ship to lengthen it. (Credit: Silversea cruises)
The number of people going on cruises keeps rising year over year, with the number passengers carried increasing from just over 3.7 million in 1990 to well over 28 million in 2023. This has meant an increasing demand for more and also much larger cruise ships, which has
led to an interesting phenomenon
where it has become more economical to chop up an existing cruise ship and put in an extra slice to add many meters to each deck. This makes intuitively sense, as the segment added is fairly ‘dumb’, with no engine room, control systems, but mostly more rooms and cabins.
The current top-of-the-line cruise ship experience is exemplified by the
Icon
class that’s being constructed for the Royal Caribbean Group. The first in this line is the
Icon of the Seas
, which is the largest cruise ship in the world with a length of 364.75 meters and a gross tonnage of 248,663. All of this cost €1.86 billion and over two years of construction time, compared to around $80 million and a few months in the drydock. When combined with a scheduled maintenance period in the drydock, this ‘Jumboization’ process can be considered to be a great deal that gives existing cruise ships a new lease on life.
Extending a ship in this manner is fairly routine as well, with many ships beyond cruise ships seeing the torch before being split. A newly built segment is then slid in place, the metal segments are welded together, wires, tubing and more are spliced together, before the in and outside are ready for a new coat of paint that makes it seem like nothing ever happened to the ship. | 58 | 18 | [
{
"comment_id": "8036751",
"author": "Zak Force",
"timestamp": "2024-09-11T03:09:45",
"content": "Is that not what killed the Edmond fizgerald?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "8036783",
"author": "Gravis",
"timestamp": "2024-09... | 1,760,371,796.401484 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/09/10/misleading-gps-philosophy-of-maps-and-you/ | Misleading GPS, Philosophy Of Maps, And You | Bryan Cockfield | [
"gps hacks"
] | [
"accuracy",
"approximation",
"garmin",
"gps",
"map",
"mapping",
"model",
"precision",
"Strava"
] | The oft-quoted saying “all models are wrong, but some are useful” is a tounge-in-cheek way of saying that at some level, tools we use to predict how the world behaves will differ from reality in some measurable way. This goes well beyond the statistics classroom it is most often quoted in, too, and is especially apparent to anyone who has used a GPS mapping device of any sort. While we might think that our technological age can save us from the approximations of maps and models, there are a number of limitations with this technology that appear in sometimes surprising ways.
[Kyle] has an interesting writeup about how maps can be wrong yet still be incredibly useful
especially in the modern GPS-enabled world.
[Kyle] is coming to us with a background in outdoor travel, involving all kinds of activities like hiking and backcountry skiing. When dealing with GPS tracking under these conditions, often the user’s actual position will deviate from their recorded position by a significant margin. Obvious causes like a loss of GPS signal are one thing, but there are some other reasons for this behavior. GPS can be off by tens of meters, so the question then becomes whether or not mapping software should record these errors or attempt to guess where it thinks the most likely location is, based on available data like barometric pressure, existing trails, elevation profiles, and other data. Especially in areas where the elevation changes rapidly, these errors can compound quickly and provide some truly mystifying data. Where mapping software draws these distinctions is a matter of active debate in these communities, with some taking more approximate routes that make more sense while sacrificing the raw data, and others letting the GPS pins fall where they may.
For anyone who’s been confused by Strava or Garmin data at the end of a run, hike, or bike ride, this is a fairly informative explanation of why the GPS data might differ from the actual distance of any of these activities. [Kyle] also notes that unless you’re out with a measuring wheel (and perhaps even then) any method to determine a true distance like this will have some amount of approximation or error. The closest technological solution to a problem like this we’ve seen is
this GPS receiver which claims centimeter-level precision
using some unique tricks. | 19 | 8 | [
{
"comment_id": "8035660",
"author": "craig",
"timestamp": "2024-09-11T00:52:47",
"content": "I’m hard pressed to think of how a recreational hike or bike ride or whatever could be impacted at all by a tracing analyzed later that is off by as much as “tens of meters.” Honestly really thinking about ... | 1,760,371,796.51462 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/09/10/why-have-seven-segments-when-you-can-have-21/ | Why Have Seven Segments When You Can Have 21? | Dave Rowntree | [
"Parts"
] | [
"21-segment",
"3d printed",
"display",
"led"
] | IO user [monte] was pointed towards an 1898 display patent issued to a [George Mason] and liked the look of the ‘creepy’ font it defined. The layout used no less than 21 discrete segments to display the complete roman alphabet and numerals, which is definitely not possible with the mere seven segments we are all familiar with. [monte] then did the decent thing and
created a demonstration digit using modern parts
.
For the implementation, [monte] created a simple PCB by hand (with an obvious mistake) and 3D-printed an enclosure and diffuser to match. After a little debugging, a better PCB was ordered from one of the usual overseas factories. There isn’t a schematic yet, but they mention using a CH32V003 Risc-V micro, which can be seen sitting on the rear of the PCB.
Maximum flexibility is ensured by storing every glyph as a 32-bit integer, with each LED corresponding to a single bit. It’s interesting to note the display incorporates serifs, which are definitely optional, although you could display sans-serif style glyphs if you wanted to. There is now a bit of a job to work out how to map character codes to glyph codes, but you can
have a go at that yourself here
. It’s still early doors on this project, but it has some real potential for a unique-looking display.
We love displays—every kind. Here’s a layout reminiscent of a VFD digit
but done purely mechanically
. And if you must limit yourself to seven digits, what about
this unique thing
? | 35 | 18 | [
{
"comment_id": "8033724",
"author": "The Commenter Formerly Known As Ren",
"timestamp": "2024-09-10T20:28:28",
"content": "Yep! I’d say that is kind of creepy!",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "8033871",
"author": "Andrew",
"ti... | 1,760,371,796.587691 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/09/10/mobile-coffee-table-uses-legs-to-get-around/ | Mobile Coffee Table Uses Legs To Get Around | Bryan Cockfield | [
"home hacks"
] | [
"bamboo",
"coffee table",
"design",
"genetic algorithm",
"leg",
"linkage",
"mobile",
"motor",
"strandbeest",
"table",
"walking",
"woodworking"
] | For getting around on most surfaces, it’s hard to beat the utility of the wheel. Versatile, inexpensive, and able to be made from a wide array of materials has led to this being a cornerstone technology for the past ten thousand years or so. But with that much history it can seem a little bit played out. To change up the locomotion game, you might want to consider using robotic legs instead. That’s what [Giliam] designed into
this mobile coffee table which uses custom linkages to move its legs and get itself from place to place
around the living room.
The process to build this mobile coffee table started years ago, when [Giliam] was designing walking mechanisms in software. A genetic algorithm was used to develop improved versions of various mechanisms, with the best ones going on to develop successive generations of the designs. Originally this just started out as a software project, but [Giliam] also developed some woodworking skills in the meantime which led to the actual construction of this coffee table.
From there the design was moved to Fusion 360, where it could then be sent to a CNC machine to create all of the parts for the 12-legged table. An Arduino Nano controls the leg movements, with power to the legs’ crankshafts provided by 24 V brushless motors. Finally, a Bluetooth module is included to allow the table to receive commands from a modified Nintendo Wii “Nunchuk” — itself an impressive project that we
covered back in 2020
.
This project took an incredible amount of work not just to design the leg mechanisms but CNC machine them out of bamboo, glue everything together, and finish it into what would be an excellent example of woodworking even without the capability of moving the table from the wall to the middle of the room and back as needed. We can’t really say we’ve seen a mobile coffee table before either, wheeled or otherwise, but if you need the tabletop instead to rotate and position itself at arbitrary angles
we have seen one which was designed to be used for metalworking
. | 22 | 12 | [
{
"comment_id": "8032898",
"author": "k-ww",
"timestamp": "2024-09-10T18:36:31",
"content": "Good Grief! It’s the luggage from “Discworld”!",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "8034837",
"author": "Joe Shaw",
"timestamp": "2024-09-1... | 1,760,371,796.769403 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/09/10/assessing-the-energy-efficiency-of-programming-languages/ | Assessing The Energy Efficiency Of Programming Languages | Maya Posch | [
"Hackaday Columns",
"Rants",
"Slider",
"Software Development"
] | [
"benchmarking",
"energy efficiency",
"programming languages"
] | Programming languages are generally defined as a more human-friendly way to program computers than using raw machine code. Within the realm of these languages there is a wide range of how close the programmer is allowed to get to the bare metal, which ultimately can affect the performance and efficiency of the application. One metric that has become more important over the years is that of energy efficiency, as datacenters keep growing along with their power demand. If picking one programming language over another saves even 1% of a datacenter’s electricity consumption, this could prove to be highly beneficial, assuming it weighs up against all other factors one would consider.
There have been some attempts over the years to put a number on the energy efficiency of specific programming languages, with a paper by
Rui Pereira et al. from 2021
(
preprint PDF
) as published in Science of Computer Programming covering the running a couple of small benchmarks, measuring system power consumption and drawing conclusions based on this. When
Hackaday covered the 2017 paper
at the time, it was with the expected claim that C is the most efficient programming language, while of course scripting languages like JavaScript, Python and Lua trailed far behind.
With C being effectively high-level assembly code this is probably no surprise, but languages such as C++ and Ada should see no severe performance penalty over C due to their design, which is the part where this particular study begins to fall apart. So what is the truth and can we even capture ‘efficiency’ in a simple ranking?
Defining Energy Efficiency
At its core, ‘energy efficiency’ is pretty simple to define: it’s the total amount of energy required to accomplish a specific task. In the case of a software application, this means the whole-system power usage, including memory, disk and processor(s). Measuring the whole-system power usage is also highly relevant, as not every programming and scripting language taxes these subsystems in the same way. In the case of Java, for example, its CPU usage isn’t that dissimilar from the same code written in C, but it will use significantly more memory in the process of doing so.
Two major confounding factors when it comes to individual languages are:
Idiomatic styles versus a focus on raw efficiency.
Native language features versus standard library features.
The idiomatic style factor is effectively some kind of agreed-upon language usage, which potentially eschews more efficient ways of accomplishing the exact same thing. Consider here for example C++, and the use of smart pointers versus raw pointers, with the former being part of the Standard Template Library (STL) instead of a native language feature. Some would argue that using an STL ‘smart pointer’ like a
unique_ptr
or
auto_ptr
is the idiomatic way to use C++, rather than the native language support for raw pointers, despite the overhead that these add.
A similar example is also due to C++ being literally just an extension to C, namely that of
printf()
and similar functions found in the
<cstdio>
standard library header. The idiomatic way to use C++ is to use the stream-based functions found in the
<iostream>
header, so that instead of employing low-level functions like
putc()
and straightforward formatted output functions like
printf()
to write this:
printf("Printing %d numbers and this string: %s.\n", number, string);
The idiomatic stream equivalent is:
std::cout << "Printing " << number << " numbers and this string: " << string << "." << std::endl;
Not only is the idiomatic version longer, harder to read, more convoluted and easier to get formatting wrong with, it is internally also significantly more complicated than a simple parse-and-replace and thus causes more overhead. This is why C++20 decided to double-down on stream formatting and fudging in printf-like support with
std::format
and other functions in the new
<format>
header. Because things can always get worse.
Know What You’re Measuring
At this point we have defined what energy efficiency with programming languages is, and touched upon a few confounding factors. All of this leads to the golden rule in science: know what you’re measuring. Or in less fanciful phrasing: ‘garbage in, garbage out’, as conclusions drawn from data using flawed assumptions truly are a complete waste of anyone’s time. Whether it was deliberate, due to wishful thinking or a flawed experimental setup, the end result is the same: a meticulously crafted document that can go straight into the shredder.
In this particular comparative analysis, the pertinent question is whether the used code is truly equivalent, as looking across the papers by Rui et al. (
2017
,
2021
),
Gordillo et al.
(2024) or even
a 2000 paper
by Lutz Prechelt all reveal stark differences between the results, with seemingly the only constant being that ‘C is pretty good’, while a language such as C++ ends up being either very close to C (Gordillo et al., Prechelt) or wildly varying in tests (Rui et al.), all pointing towards an issue with the code being used, as power usage measurement and time measurement is significantly more straightforward to verify.
In the case of the 2021 paper by Rui et al., the code examples used come from Rosetta Code, with the code-as-used also
provided
on GitHub. Taking as example the
Hailstone Sequence
, we can see a number of fascinating differences between the C, C++ and Ada versions, particularly as it pertains to the use of console output and standard library versus native language features.
The C version of the Hailstone Sequence has two
printf()
statements, while the C++ version has no fewer than five instances of
std::cout
. The Ada version comes in at two
put()
, two
new_line
(which should be merged with
put_line
) and one
put_line
. This difference in console output is already a red flag, even considering that when benchmarking you should never have console output enabled as this draws in significant parts of the operating system, with resulting high levels of variability due to task scheduling, etc.
The next red flag is that while the Ada and C versions uses the native
array
type, the C++ version uses
std::vector
, which is absolutely not equivalent to an
array
and should not be used if efficiency is at all a concern due to the internal copying and house-keeping performed by the
std::vector
data structure.
If we consider that Rosetta Code is a communal wiki that does not guarantee that the code snippets provided are ‘absolutely equivalent’, that means that the resulting paper by Rui et al. is barely worth the trip to the shredder and consequently a total waste of a tree.
Not All Bad
None of this should come as a surprise, of course, as it is well-known (or should be) that C++ produces the exact same code as C
unless
you use specific constructs like RTTI or the horror show that is C++ exceptions. Similarly, Ada code with
similar semantics
as C code should not show significant performance differences. The problem with many of the ‘programming language efficiency’ studies is simply that they take a purported authoritative source of code without being fluent in the chosen languages, run them in a controlled environment and then draw conclusions based on the mangled garbage that comes out at the end.
That said, there are some conclusions that can be drawn from the fancy-but-horrifically-flawed tables, such as how comically inefficient scripting languages like Python are. This was also the take-away by Bryan Lunduke in a
recent video
when he noted that Python is 71 times slower and uses 75 times more energy based on the Rui et al. paper. Even if it’s not exactly 71 times slower, Python is without question a total snail even among scripting languages, where it trades blows with Perl, PHP and Ruby at the bottom of every ranking.
The take-away here is thus perhaps that rather than believing anything you see on the internet (or read in scientific papers), it pays to keep an open mind and run your own benchmarks. As eating your own dogfood is crucial in engineering, I can point to my own remote-procedure call
(NymphRPC) library
in C++ on which I
performed
a range of optimizations to reduce overhead. This mostly involved getting rid of
std::string
and moving to a zero-copy system involving C-isms like
memcpy
and every bit of raw pointer arithmetic and bit-wise operators goodness that is available.
The result for NymphRPC was a four-fold increase in performance, which is probably a good indication of how much performance you can gain if you stick close to C-style semantics. It also makes it obvious how limited these small code snippets are, as with a real application you also deal with cache access, memory alignment and cache eviction issues, all of which can turn a seemingly efficient approach into a sluggish affair. | 67 | 27 | [
{
"comment_id": "8032172",
"author": "drenehtsral",
"timestamp": "2024-09-10T17:28:12",
"content": "Having worked at two large household name tech companies in the last couple years I am afraid that I’ve seen firsthand that even where performance is supposed to matter (embedded systems and data mini... | 1,760,371,796.70097 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/09/10/rescuing-high-res-displays-from-older-macs/ | Rescuing High-Res Displays From Older Macs | Bryan Cockfield | [
"Mac Hacks"
] | [
"5k",
"apple",
"display",
"imac",
"power supply",
"r1811",
"retina",
"usb",
"USB C"
] | When Apple started rolling out its Retina displays, it multiplied the amount of pixels compared to their standard, non-Retina displays by four. This increased pixel density while keeping the standard screen size — idea for those needing a lot of detail for their work. But, as is common with Apple, using these displays outside of the Apple ecosystem can be quite a challenge. Retina displays have been around for about a decade now, though, with some third-party hardware able to break them free of their cage.
This post details how [Kevin] liberated the 5K display
from a 2017 iMac for more general use with support for USB-C.
The first step was to find a used iMac for the right price, and then sell off most of its parts to recoup most of the initial cost. That brought the cost of the panel itself to about $250. The key to getting the display working without all of the Apple hardware is the R1811 driver board, which can be had for around $300. A new 156 watt power supply was added to the mix, and [Kevin] also put in a few extras like a USB cable extension and a latching push-button which kills the display’s power. Additionally, he attempted to get the original iMac speakers working with this setup too, but none of his attempts resulted in anything close to quality sound so he’s mostly abandoned that extra feature for now.
With that all buttoned up, he has a 27″ 5K display with USB-C input for around $650 which is quite a deal. The MacRumors thread that [Kevin] added his project to currently has around 1,700 posts about similar builds too, so it can be a wealth of information for all kinds of models. As Apple drops support for their older machines, these displays will become more and more common and projects like these can keep a lot of e-waste out of the landfill while also providing decent hardware at a bargain price. Don’t just look for iMacs and MacBooks though;
there’s a similar process to use various iPad displays for other things as well
. | 26 | 8 | [
{
"comment_id": "8031552",
"author": "The Commenter Formerly Known As Ren",
"timestamp": "2024-09-10T15:57:28",
"content": "The Title made me wonder if there are projects out there that have turned old iPads into terminals.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"c... | 1,760,371,796.833935 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/09/10/a-look-at-the-small-web-part-1/ | A Look At The Small Web, Part 1 | Jenny List | [
"Current Events",
"Featured",
"Interest",
"internet hacks",
"Original Art",
"Slider"
] | [
"gemini",
"Gopher",
"HTTP",
"small web"
] | In the early 1990s I was privileged enough to be immersed in the world of technology during the exciting period that gave birth to the World Wide Web, and I can honestly say I managed to completely miss those first stirrings of the information revolution in favour of CD-ROMs, a piece of technology which definitely didn’t have a future. I’ve written in the past about that experience and what it taught me about confusing the medium with the message, but today I’m returning to that period in search of something else. How can we regain some of the things that made that early Web good?
We All Know What’s Wrong With The Web…
It’s likely most Hackaday readers could recite a list of problems with the web as it exists here in 2024. Cory Doctrow coined a word for it,
enshitification
, referring to the shift of web users from being the consumers of online services to the product of those services, squeezed by a few Internet monopolies. A few massive corporations control so much of our online experience from the server to the browser, to the extent that for so many people there is very little the touch outside those confines.
The first ever web page is maintained
as a historical exhibit
by CERN.
Contrasting the enshitified web of 2024 with the early web, it’s not difficult to see how some of the promise was lost. Perhaps not the web of Tim Berners-Lee and his NeXT cube, but the one of a few years later, when Netscape was the new kid on the block to pair with your Trumpet Winsock. CD-ROMs were about to crash and burn, and I was learning how to create simple HTML pages.
The promise then was of a decentralised information network in which we would all have our own websites, or homepages as the language of the time put it, on our own servers. Microsoft even gave their users the tools to do this with Windows, in that the least technical of users could put a Frontpage Express web site on their Personal Web Server instance. This promise seems fanciful to modern ears, as fanciful perhaps as keeping the overall size of each individual page under 50k, but at the time it seemed possible.
With such promise then, just how did we end up here? I’m sure many of you will chip in in the comments with your own takes, but of course, setting up and maintaining a web server is either hard, or costly. Anyone foolish enough to point their Windows Personal Web Server directly at the Internet would find their machine compromised by script kiddies, and having your own “proper” hosting took money and expertise. Free stuff always wins online, so in those early days it was the likes of Geocities or Angelfire which drew the non-technical crowds. It’s hardly surprising that this trend continued into the early days of social media, starting the inevitable slide into today’s scene described above.
…So Here’s How To Fix It
If there’s a ray of hope in this wilderness then, it comes in the shape of the Small Web. This is a movement in reaction to a Facebook or Google internet, an attempt to return to that mid-1990s dream of a web of lightweight self-hosted sites. It’s a term which encompases both lightweight use of traditional web tehnologies and some new ones designed more specifically to deliver lightweight services, and it’s fair to say that while it’s not going to displace those corporations any time soon it does hold the interesting prospect of providing an alternative. From a Hackaday perspective we see Small Web technologies as ideal for serving and consuming through microcontroller-based devices, for instance, such as event badges. Why shouldn’t a hacker camp badge have a Gemini client which picks up the camp schedule, for example? Because the Small Web is something of a broad term, this is the first part of a short series providing an introduction to the topic. We’ve set out here what it is and where it comes from, so it’s now time to take a look at some of those 1990s beginnings in the form of Gopher, before looking at what some might call its spiritual successors today.
An ancient Firefox version shows us a Gopher site. Ph0t0phobic,
MPL 1.1
.
It’s odd to return to Gopher after three decades, as it’s one of those protocols which was for most of us immediately lost as the Web gained traction. Particulrly as at the time I associated Gopher with CLI base clients and the Web with the then-new NCSA Mosaic, I’d retained that view somehow. It’s interesting then to come back and look at how the first generation of web browsers rendered Gopher sites, and see that they did a reasonable job of making them look a lot like the more texty web sites of the day. In another universe perhaps Gopher would have evolved further to something more like the web, but instead it remains an ossifed glimpse of 1992 even if there are still a surprising number of active Gopher servers still to be found. There’s a re-imagined version of the Veronica search engine, and some fun can be had browsing this backwater.
With the benefit of a few decades of the Web it’s immediately clear that while Gopher is very fast indeed in the days of 64-bit desktops and gigabit fibre, the limitations of what it can do are rather obvious. We’re used to consuming information as pages instead of as files, and it just doesn’t meet those expectations. Happily though Gopher never made those modifications, there’s something like what it might have become in
Gemini
. This is a lightweight protocol like Gopher, but with a page format that allows hyperlinking. Intentionally it’s not simply trying to re-implement the web and HTML, instead it’s trying to preserve the simplicity while giving users the hyperlinking that makes the web so useful.
It feels a lot like the early 1990s Web, doesn’t it.
The great thing about Gemini is that it’s easy to try. The Gemini protocol website has a list of known clients, but if even that’s too much, find a Gemini to HTTP proxy (I’m not linking to one, to avoid swamping someone’s low traffic web server). I was soon up and running, and exploring the world of Gemini sites. Hackaday don’t have a presence there… yet.
We’ve become so used to web pages taking a visible time to load, that the lightning-fast response of Gemini is a bit of a shock at first. It’s normal for a web page to contain many megabytes of images, Javascript, CSS, and other resources, so what is in effect the Web stripped down to only the information is unexpected. The pages are only a few K in size and load in effect, instantaneously. This may not be how the Web should be, but it’s certainly how fast and efficient hypertext information should be.
This has been part 1 of a series on the Small Web, in looking at the history and the Gemini protocol from a user perspective we know we’ve only scratched the surface of the topic. Next time we’ll be looking at how to create a Gemini site of your own, through learning it ourselves. | 61 | 20 | [
{
"comment_id": "8030893",
"author": "Joshua",
"timestamp": "2024-09-10T14:16:10",
"content": "Maybe it’s because I’m from Europe, but I did enjoy the days of Windows 3.1, System 7 and Amigas.I’ve bought shareware CD-ROMs, was fascinated by Kodak Photo CDs, Video CDs and “early” online services and... | 1,760,371,797.078529 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/09/10/shedding-new-light-on-the-voynich-manuscript-with-multispectral-imaging/ | Shedding New Light On The Voynich Manuscript With Multispectral Imaging | Donald Papp | [
"Art",
"Science"
] | [
"multispectral imaging",
"Voynich manuscript"
] | The Voynich Manuscript is a medieval codex written in an unknown alphabet and is replete with fantastic illustrations as unusual and bizarre as they are esoteric. It has captured interest for hundreds of years, and expert [Lisa Fagin Davis] shared interesting results from using
multispectral imaging on some pages of this highly unusual document
.
We should make it clear up front that the imaging results have not yielded a decryption key (nor a secret map or anything of the sort) but the detailed write-up and freely-downloadable imaging results are fascinating reading for anyone interested in either the manuscript itself, or just how exactly multispectral imaging is applied to rare documents. Modern imaging techniques might get leveraged into things like
authenticating sealed packs of Pokémon cards
, but that’s not all it can do.
Because multispectral imaging involves things outside our normal perception, the results require careful analysis rather than intuitive interpretation. Here is one example: multispectral imaging may yield faded text visible “between the lines” of other text and invite leaping to conclusions about hidden or erased content. But the faded text could be the result of show-through (content from the opposite side of the page is being picked up) or an offset (when a page picks up ink and pigment from its opposing page after being closed for centuries.)
[Lisa] provides a highly detailed analysis of specific pages, and explains the kind of historical context and evidence this approach yields. Make some time to give it a read if you’re at all interested, we promise it’s worth your while. | 14 | 6 | [
{
"comment_id": "8029423",
"author": "oro35",
"timestamp": "2024-09-10T12:15:19",
"content": "written in an unknown alphabet and is replete with fantastic illustrations as unusual and bizarre as they are esotericAlso known as schizophrenia.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
... | 1,760,371,797.139138 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/09/10/slim-tactile-switches-save-classic-ti-calculator-with-a-bad-keypad/ | Slim Tactile Switches Save Classic TI Calculator With A Bad Keypad | Dan Maloney | [
"Repair Hacks"
] | [
"calculator",
"membrane",
"pcb",
"smd",
"tactile",
"texas instruments",
"ti"
] | For vintage calculator fans, nothing strikes more fear than knowing that someday their precious and irreplaceable daily driver will become a museum piece to be looked at and admired — but never touched again. More often than not, the failure mode will be the keypad.
In an effort to recover from the inevitable, at least for 70s vintage TI calculators, [George] has come up with
these nice replacement keypad PCBs
. The original membrane switches on these calculators have a limited life, but luckily there are ultra-slim SMD tactile switches these days make a dandy substitute. [George] specifies a 0.8 mm thick switch that when mounted on a 1.6 mm thick PCB comes in just a hair over the original keypad’s 2.2 mm thickness. He has layouts for a TI-45, which should also fit a TI-30, and one for the larger keypads on TI-58s and TI-59s.
While these particular calculators might not in your collection, [George]’s goal is to create an open source collection of replacement keypads for all the vintage calculators sitting in desk drawers out there. And not just keypads, but
battery packs
, too. | 16 | 5 | [
{
"comment_id": "8029140",
"author": "Antron Argaiv",
"timestamp": "2024-09-10T11:23:16",
"content": "When scientific calculators first came out, the TIs were known for their low cost (over $100 but under $200 IIRC) while the HPs were well over $300. Thus, most people had TIs. But the HPs had MUCH n... | 1,760,371,797.260471 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/09/09/hard-lessons-learned-while-building-a-solar-rc-plane/ | Hard Lessons Learned While Building A Solar RC Plane | Maya Posch | [
"Solar Hacks"
] | [
"ardupilot",
"autonomous aircraft",
"RC airplane",
"solar airplane"
] | Although not the first to try and build a DIY solar-powered remote control airplane,
[ProjectAir]’s recent attempt is the most significant one
in recent memory. It follows [rctestflight]’s
multi-year saga
with its v4 revision in 2019, as well as
2022’s rather big one
by [Bearospace]. With so many examples to look at, building a solar-powered RC airplane in 2024 should be a snap, surely?
The first handicap was that [ProjectAir] is based in the UK, which means dealing with the famously sunny weather in those regions. The next issue was that the expensive, 20% efficient solar panels are exceedingly fragile, so the hope was that hot-gluing them to the foam of the airplane would keep them safe, even in the case of a crash. During the first test flights they quickly found that although the airplane few fairly well, the moment the sun vanished behind another cloud, the airplane would quite literally fall out of the sky, damaging some cells in the process.
For the final revision, a storage battery was picked, which got charged with an MPPT charger. The airplane itself was changed to be as low-drag as possible, with 60 photovoltaic (PV) cells stuck to its wings. This resulted in the somewhat spindly, swept wing, tail-less pusher design. After debugging a fun issue with EMI from the motor and the navigation module a test flight could be performed, which had the airplane autonomously keep a fixed course. That’s when everything went horribly wrong.
During the subsequent crash investigation, it was found that a total power loss occurred, due to the MPPT charger overcharging the battery, possibly due to a shared ground with the PV cells. Simultaneously, likely due to rushing the testing as bad weather was incoming, the backup battery on the controller was not installed, resulting in the airplane plummeting once primary power ran out. Fortunately, all of these are fixable issues, while providing a learning experience at the cost of an RC airplane and the PV cells that got destroyed in the crash.
Perhaps most importantly, this shows that even if much of building one’s own PV RC airplane in 2024 is just sticking off-the-shelf modules together, there’s no substitute for good engineering, not to mention assembly & pre-flight checklists. | 17 | 10 | [
{
"comment_id": "8027263",
"author": "clind",
"timestamp": "2024-09-10T07:19:41",
"content": "I Wonder if a flying wing design could offer a low drag/ high wing surface area solution interesting for such an andeavour.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment... | 1,760,371,797.552442 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/09/09/orion-ceases-operations-future-of-meade-unclear/ | Orion Ceases Operations, Future Of Meade Unclear | Al Williams | [
"News",
"Space"
] | [
"Orion telescopes",
"telescope"
] | There was a time when building a telescope was a rite of passage for budding astronomers, much as building a radio was the coming age for electronics folks. These days, many things are cheaper to buy than build, even though we do enjoy building anything we can. Orion was a big name in telescopes for many years. Their parent company also owned Meade and Coronado, both well-known optical brands. A recent video from
[Reflactor] brought it to our attention that Orion abruptly ceased operations on July 9th
.
We always hate to hear when well-known brands that serve a big part of our community vanish. According to [Reflactor], people who have telescopes with the company for repair are likely to never see them again. [Dylan O’Donnell] also had a video about it (see below), and, as he notes, at that time, the website was still operating, but it’s gone now. To add further fuel to the fire
Sky & Telescope
ran an article on July 12th
saying that Meade was also on the chopping block, although at the time of this writing, their site is still online.
You have to wonder what problems you might have selling telescopes today. Many people live where there is light pollution. We’d like to think there are still people who want to ponder the universe from their backyard, though.
There are still people selling telescopes, so presumably, one of them — maybe Celestron — will take up the slack. Or maybe we’ll see a resurgence in telescope homebrewing.
After all, if you have a 3D printer, you could
make a 114/900 mm telescope
on a tight budget. Or,
try IKEA
. | 32 | 16 | [
{
"comment_id": "8020591",
"author": "Winston",
"timestamp": "2024-09-09T11:49:03",
"content": "Orion Telescopes & Binoculars Purchases Meade InstrumentsJune 1, 2021https://skyandtelescope.org/astronomy-news/orion-telescopes-binoculars-purchases-meade/Optronic Technologies, Inc., better known to bac... | 1,760,371,797.2049 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/09/09/microsoft-sculpt-keyboard-lives-again-with-rp2040/ | Microsoft Sculpt Keyboard Lives Again With RP2040 | Tom Nardi | [
"Microcontrollers",
"Peripherals Hacks"
] | [
"custom PCB",
"drop-in replacement",
"QMK",
"rp2040"
] | Hackaday readers are likely the kind of folks that have a favorite keyboard, so you can probably imagine how devastating it would be to find out that the board you’ve sworn by for years is going out of production. Even worse, the board has some internal gremlins that show up after a few years of use, so functional ones in the second-hand market are becoming increasingly rare. So what do you do?
This is the position [TechBeret] recently found himself in with his beloved Sculpt keyboard. When Microsoft decided to step back from the peripheral market last year, he started looking at alternatives. Finding none of them appealing, he decided instead to
breathe new life into the ergonomic keyboard with the RP2040
. Every aspect of the resurrection is covered in a phenomenally detailed write-up on his blog, making this a valuable case study in modernizing peripherals with the popular microcontroller.
According to [TechBeret], the biggest problem with the Sculpt was its wonky wireless hardware. It was bad enough that the board was permanently paired to its USB dongle, but apparently, the RF side of things would degrade over time, leading to an ever shorter range. So he decided the best course of action was to simply give the board a brain transplant. Since he didn’t really want it to be wireless anyway, he figured it wouldn’t be too difficult to create a replacement PCB that reads the keyboard matrix and speaks USB Human Interface Device (HID).
Checking the fit with a 3D-printed PCB
In fact, he was able to find a couple of projects that did that exactly. Instead of copying them, he took them as inspiration to help direct his own effort. His primary goal was to develop a drop-in replacement for the original PCB — specifically, he didn’t want to have to take a Dremel to his keyboard just to get it working again. He also wanted to use components he knew would be available for the foreseeable future, as well as bring USB-C support to the party. Finally, he didn’t want to get bogged down in writing code, so the replacement board had to be able to run the popular QMK firmware.
By his own admission, [TechBeret] is no expert in such matters. But that makes the write-up all the more compelling. Rather than seeing a perfect result on the first attempt, we get to learn along through his trials and tribulations. Even if you’ve done this kind of thing before, we bet you’ll pick up some interesting tricks along the way. We particularly liked his tip about test-fitting your PCB by
exporting it as a STEP file and 3D printing a replica
.
It might seem like a lot of work to save a keyboard, but then, those who’ve come to love it —
like our very own [Lewin Day]
— will tell you the Sculpt isn’t just
any
keyboard.
QMK
might even make it better. | 8 | 5 | [
{
"comment_id": "8019360",
"author": "der.ule",
"timestamp": "2024-09-09T10:00:42",
"content": "Incase is relauching the Microsoft Hardware portfoliohttps://www.incase.com/pages/incase-designed-by-microsoftStill, cool hack",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comm... | 1,760,371,797.440313 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/09/08/mainframe-chip-has-360mb-of-on-chip-cache/ | Mainframe Chip Has 360MB Of On-Chip Cache | Al Williams | [
"computer hacks"
] | [
"cpu",
"ibm"
] | It is hard to imagine what a mainframe or supercomputer can do when we all have what amounts to supercomputers on our desks. But if you look at something like
IBM’s mainframe Telum chip
, you’ll get some ideas. The Telum II has “only” eight cores, but they run at 5.5 GHz. Unimpressed? It also has 360 MB of on-chip cache and I/O and AI accelerators. A mainframe might use 32 of these chips, by the way.
[Clamchowder] explains in the post how the cache has a unique architecture. There are actually ten 36 MB L2 caches on the chip. There are eight caches, one for each core, plus one for the I/O accelerator, and another one that is uncommitted.
A typical CPU will have a shared L3 cache, but with so much L2 cache, IBM went a different direction. As [Clamchowder] explains, the chip reuses the L2 capacity to form a virtual L3 cache. Each cache has a saturation metric and when one cache gets full, some of its data goes to a less saturated cache block.
Remember the uncommitted cache block? It always has the lowest saturation metric so, typically, unless the same data happens to be in another cache, it gets moved to the spare block.
There’s more to it than that — read the original post for more details. You’ll even read speculation about how IBM managed a virtual L4 cache, across CPUs.
Cache has been a security bane
lately on desktop CPUs. But done right, it is
good for performance
. | 29 | 10 | [
{
"comment_id": "8017982",
"author": "Hak Foo",
"timestamp": "2024-09-09T06:22:44",
"content": "A Top 500 list does not exclusively define ‘supercomputer’ because, if nothing else, it’s a moving target. A Raspberry Pi 1A will outbenchmark much of Cray’s 1970s and 1980s catalogue, but that doesn’t r... | 1,760,371,797.329665 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/09/08/printed-in-space-3d-printed-metal-parts-shown-off-after-returning-from-the-iss/ | Printed In Space: 3D-Printed Metal Parts Shown Off After Returning From The ISS | Maya Posch | [
"3d Printer hacks",
"Space"
] | [
"3D metal printer",
"international space station"
] | The European Space Agency (ESA) is showing
3D-printed metal parts
made onboard the International Space Station
using a printer and materials the agency sent
earlier this year. While 3D printing onboard the ISS is nothing new, the printing of metal parts in space is an important advancement. The agency’s goals are to be able to produce more tools and spares
in situ
rather than having to rely on resupply missions. An ambitious idea being pitched is to use captured space debris as input as well, which would further decrease the ISS’s dependence on Earth and expensive cargo runs from the bottom of the gravity well.
The metal 3D printer in operation during testing on Earth prior to being installed on the ISS. (Credit: ESA)
The 180 kg 3D printer lives in the
European Drawer Rack
Mark II inside ESA’s Columbus module. Controllers on Earth managed the printing process after installation. The printer ran for about four hours a day, with each layer inspected before continuing. This means the printing process took days, but running the machine continuously would, of course, cut printing time significantly.
The printer uses stainless steel wire that is fed to the printing location, where a laser melts it. As the pool of molten metal moves away from the laser-heated spot, it solidifies like plastic does in a regular FDM printer. Of course, with the melting point of stainless steel being around 1400 °C, it runs a lot hotter and thus requires that the printer to be inside a completely sealed box, with the atmosphere inside vented into space and replaced with nitrogen prior to starting the printing process. The presence of oxygen would totally ruin the print.
We badly want a
practical metal printer
for home use, but, so far, they remain out of reach. When you do get them, you might consider that there are different
design rules
for metal-printed parts. | 21 | 10 | [
{
"comment_id": "8015774",
"author": "paulvdh",
"timestamp": "2024-09-09T02:14:46",
"content": "Well, ISSS is 450ton of metal and other stuff. They still have 6 years to have it print itself into something else before the deorbit is scheduled.It’s one of the things I do not understand. Launch costs ... | 1,760,371,797.392679 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/09/08/hackaday-links-september-8-2024/ | Hackaday Links: September 8, 2024 | Dan Maloney | [
"Hackaday Columns",
"Hackaday links",
"Slider"
] | [
"American Radio Relay LEague",
"Animagraff",
"ARRL",
"blender",
"boeing",
"eavesdropping",
"exoskeleton",
"Festool",
"hackaday links",
"iss",
"nasa",
"privacy",
"ransomware",
"rigging",
"sailing vessel",
"smartphone",
"Starliner"
] | OK, sit down, everyone — we don’t want you falling over and hurting yourself when you learn the news that
actually yes, your phone has been listening to your conversations all along
. Shocking, we know, but that certainly seems to be what an outfit called Cox Media Group (CMG) does with its “Active Listening” software, according to a leaked slide deck that was used to pitch potential investors. The gist is that the software uses a smartphone’s microphone to listen to conversations and pick out keywords that it feeds to its partners, namely Google, Facebook, and Amazon so that they can target you with directed advertisements. Ever have an IRL conversation about something totally random only to start seeing references to that subject pop up where they never did before?
We sure have
, and while “relationship mining” seemed like a more parsimonious explanation back in 2017, the state of tech makes eavesdropping far more plausible today. Then there’s the whole thing of basically being caught red-handed. The Big Three all huffed and puffed about how they were
shocked, SHOCKED
to learn that this was going on, with reactions ranging from outright denial of ever partnering with CMG to quietly severing their relationship with the company. So much for years of gaslighting on this.
In other dystopian news,
the American Radio Relay League just wrote a $1 million check to end a ransomware attack
. According to an ARRL statement, unidentified “threat actors” found their way into computer systems at the group’s Newington, Connecticut headquarters and related cloud-based systems, which allowed them to install encryption packages on laptops, desktops, and servers running a variety of operating systems. The ARRL’s crisis team managed to talk the cyberattackers down from their original demand of several million dollars to just a million, which all things considered was probably the path of least resistance and lowest cost. It’s a shame that things have come to that, but here we are.
The long saga of Starliner’s first crewed test flight
is finally over
, as the beleaguered spacecraft pushed back from the International Space Station and headed back to a midnight landing in New Mexico on Saturday. The return was sans crew, of course, with NASA being unwilling to risk the lives of astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore in a spacecraft that hadn’t really performed up to snuff on the way up to the ISS. As if the leaky thrusters weren’t enough, just before the hatches were closed Wilmore reported
weird noises coming from a speaker in Starliner
. He managed to
capture the sounds
on his mic for Mission Control, which for all the world sounded like someone repeatedly banging on a pipe in the distance. The weird thing about the sound is the regularity, which sounded a little faster than one per second. We’re keen to see if NASA shares any in-depth engineering information on this and all the other Starliner anomalies now that the craft is back on the ground.
If you’ve ever had to do extensive overhead work, such as sanding or painting ceilings, or working under a car on a lift, you know the burn that starts to set in after just a short while of holding your arms over your head. Up to now, the only way to fix that was either hit the gym and work on upper body strength, or find another way to make a living. But now that we’re living in the future, you can just
strap on your own exoskeleton backpack
and take a load off the robotic way. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the ExoActive exoskeleton comes from Festool, best known for its wonderfully well-engineered premium tools that often command a premium price. The ExoActive is battery-powered and straps on like a backpack with extensions that support the upper arms. It can be set to different work heights and provides a boost in lifting power, taking some of the weight off your shoulder girdle and transmitting it to your lower back. Unlike other exoskeletons we’ve seen breathless press releases for, this one seems like
something you can buy right now
. Sure, it’s expensive, but it’s a fraction of the cost of shoulder surgery.
And finally, Animagraffs is back with an incredibly detailed look inside the inner workings of
a 16th-century sailing vessel
. The video really captures what it took to build vessels that could (just barely) sail around the world for the first time. We loved the explanation of the rigging, especially the differences between the standing rigging and the running rigging. If you don’t know your clewline from your backstay, this Blender tour de force will set you straight. | 13 | 6 | [
{
"comment_id": "8014181",
"author": "The Commenter Formerly Known As Ren",
"timestamp": "2024-09-08T23:10:45",
"content": "IIRC, Starliner’s speaker noise was explained as feedback between its audio/radio system and the audio/radio system of the ISS.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"re... | 1,760,371,797.493656 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/09/08/self-driving-cars-learn-from-our-eyes/ | Self Driving Cars Learn From Our Eyes | Al Williams | [
"Transportation Hacks"
] | [
"autonomous driving",
"autonomous vehicles"
] | [Michelle Hampson] reports in IEEE Spectrum that Chinese researchers may improve self-driving cars by
mimicking how the human eye works
. In some autonomous cars, two cameras use polarizing filters to help
understand details about what the car sees
. However, these filters can penalize the car’s vision in low light conditions.
Humans, however, have excellent vision in low-lighting conditions. The
Retinex theory
(based on the Land Effect discovered by [
Edwin Land
]) attributes this to the fact that our eyes sense both the reflectance and the illumination of light. The new approach processes polarized light from the car’s cameras in the same way.
The images pass through two algorithms. One compensates for brightness levels, while the other processes the reflective properties of the incoming light. They mounted cameras on real cars and drove them in actual dim environments to test everything out.
The result? Studies show that the approach improved driving accuracy by approximately 10%. However, the algorithms require extensive training on difficult-to-obtain data sets, so that is one challenge to adoption.
Self-driving cars certainly
need improving
. Oddly enough, navigation can be done with polarizing filter cameras and a clear view of the sky. Or, you can look
under the road
. | 14 | 7 | [
{
"comment_id": "8012745",
"author": "Daniel Scott Matthews",
"timestamp": "2024-09-08T20:47:24",
"content": "The real strength of human intelligence is our ability to shift modes and adapt in real time to the information sources available. i.e. We can shift focus from one sensory clue to another, o... | 1,760,371,797.897671 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/09/08/reverse-engineering-the-web-api-of-an-akaso-ek7000-action-camera/ | Reverse Engineering The Web API Of An Akaso EK7000 Action Camera | Maya Posch | [
"Reverse Engineering"
] | [
"Action camera",
"camera remote"
] | Recently, [Richard Audette] bought an Akaso EK7000 action camera for his daughter’s no-smartphones-allowed summer camp, which meant that after his daughter returned from said camp, he was
free to tinker
with this new toy. Although he was not interested in peeling open the camera to ogle its innards, [Richard] was very much into using the WiFi-based remote control without being forced into using the ‘Akaso Go’ smartphone app. To do this, he had to figure out the details of what the Android app does so that it could be replicated. He provided a fake camera WiFi hotspot for the app in order to learn its secrets.
Normally, the camera creates a WiFi hotspot with a specific SSID (
iCam-AKASO_C_1e96
) and password (
1234567890
) which the Android app connects to before contacting the camera’s IP address at
192.72.1.1
. The app then shows a live view and allows you to copy over snapshots and videos. Initially, [Richard] tried to decompile the Android app using
JADX
, but the decompiled code contained so many URLs that it was hard to make heads or tails of it. In addition, the app supports many different Akaso camera models, making it harder to focus on the part for this particular camera.
No worries! A Raspberry Pi SBC provided a fake camera WiFi hotspot. A simple application records HTTP requests from the app and provides responses. This was easier than setting up a man-in-the-middle attack, although — since the traffic isn’t encrypted — this was a possibility.
Ultimately, this allowed [Richard] to determine the relevant URLs to retrieve photos and videos, while the RTSP live stream URL was discovered from the decompiled Akasa Go app. Using the fake WiFi camera setup, the parameters to set the stream resolution and FPS were then determined, giving [Richard] full remote control over the camera without the need to use the mobile app.
We’ve seen a lot of camera
WiFi reverse engineering
. WiFi hotspots are handy for hacking. They also are handy
in hotel rooms
. | 2 | 2 | [
{
"comment_id": "8011768",
"author": "alialiali",
"timestamp": "2024-09-08T18:01:51",
"content": "Would wireshark not be ideal for this. Capturing unencrypted traffic. Not that the method used wasn’t very effective",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id":... | 1,760,371,797.645134 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/09/07/should-you-run-servo-horns-or-direct-couplings-in-your-rc-planes/ | Should You Run Servo Horns Or Direct Couplings In Your RC Planes? | Lewin Day | [
"Misc Hacks"
] | [
"direct drive",
"plane",
"rc plane",
"servo"
] | Whenever you buy a servo, it usually comes with a little baggie full of various plastic horns. Most of us pick our favorite and use it in our projects. Some of us hack them up, glue them back together, and do all kinds of weird things with them. And others skip them entirely, going for direct drive instead.
In a new video,
[Dynamix Systems] explores when going direct drive is the right solution.
The video primarily concerns servos as they’re used in the context of aero modeling. In this regard, the video points out that while stock servo horns are easy to use, they can be cumbersome and clumsy. For example, you often end up with horns and control linkages protruding out into the airstream, adding drag and generally making things a bit inelegant. They can also snag on things and easily damage your servos or controls.
Using direct shaft couplers can be a much tidier solution in some respects. The servo can be coupled directly to the axis of motion, allowing it to be hidden inside a wing or tail surface. It can require a little more finesse in installation and design, but they’re much less likely to snag on things or be damaged. There’s also a drag benefit if you do it right. [Dynamix Systems] notes that you’ll want to source some shaft couplers to do this properly, which you can make yourself or buy online fairly easily.
It’s great to see how tidy direct drive really is.
We’ve seen some other nifty servo tricks of late, too
. Video after the break. | 22 | 11 | [
{
"comment_id": "7992806",
"author": "Steven Clark",
"timestamp": "2024-09-07T17:21:28",
"content": "I always kind of assumed horns were meant as a sacrificial breakaway part. But given how often servo gears get stripped I guess maybe they didn’t work well if they were.",
"parent_id": null,
... | 1,760,371,798.021315 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/09/07/fun-and-failure/ | Fun And Failure | Elliot Williams | [
"Hackaday Columns",
"Slider"
] | [
"newsletter",
"repair"
] | My sister is a beekeeper, or maybe a meta-beekeper. She ends up making more money by breeding and selling new queen bees to other beekeepers than she does by selling honey, but that doesn’t mean that she doesn’t also process the sweet stuff from time to time. She got a free steam-heated oscillating hot knife, used for cutting the waxy caps off of the tops of the cells before spinning the combs down to extract honey, and she thought it might be easier to use than her trusty hand-held electric hot knife.
The oscillating knife, which was built something like a century ago, hadn’t been used in decades. All of the grease had turned to glue, and the large v-belt wheel that made it go was hard to turn by hand, and the motor was missing anyway. So she gave it to my father and me as a project. How could we resist?
We found the original manual on the Internet, which said that it would run from any 1/2 hp motor, or could be optionally driven by a takeoff wheel from a tractor – unfortunately not an option in my sister’s honey house. But we
did
find a 3/4 hp bench grinder at Harbor Freight that conveniently fit inside the case, and bought the smallest v-belt pulley wheel that would fit the grinder’s arbor. We thought we were geniuses, but when we hooked it all up, it just stalled.
We spent more than a few hours taking the mechanism apart. It was basically an eccentric shaft with a bearing on the end, and the bearing ran back and forth in the groove of a sliding mechanism that the knife blade attached to. As mentioned above, everything was gunked, so we took it all apart. The bearing was seized, so we freed that up by getting the sand out of the balls. The bearing couldn’t move freely in the slide either, but we filed that down until it
just
moved freely without noticeable play. We added grease from this century, and reassembled it. It turned fine by hand.
But with the belt and motor attached, the mechanism still had just enough friction to stall out the motor. Of course we wrapped some rope around the shaft and pull-started it, and it made a hell of a racket, nearly vibrated itself off the table, and we could see that the marvelous zinc-coated frame that held it all together was racking under the tension. It would require a wholly new housing to be viable, and we hadn’t even figured out a source of steam to heat the knife.
In short, it was more trouble than it was worth. So we packed up the bench grinder in the original container, and returned it no-worse-for-wear to the Freight. But frankly, we had a fantastic time playing around with a noble machine from a long-gone past. We got it “working” even if that state was unworkable, and we were only out the cost of the small v-belt pulley. Who says all of your projects have to be a success to be fun?
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
! | 20 | 7 | [
{
"comment_id": "7991802",
"author": "DougM",
"timestamp": "2024-09-07T14:55:03",
"content": "Bench Grinders are notoriously low torque (but high speed) motors.Just about any other motor would do the trick. Try one of those online electrical surplus places, they have a zillion motors of all specs."... | 1,760,371,797.96083 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/09/07/glowing-egg-is-a-one-oeuf-solution-for-tracking-cycles/ | Glowing Egg Is A One-Oeuf Solution For Tracking Cycles | Kristina Panos | [
"Lifehacks"
] | [
"ESP8266",
"fertility",
"menstrual cycle",
"menstruation",
"ovulation",
"RGB LED",
"wemos d1 mini",
"ws2812",
"yaml"
] | Look, if something happened to you every three weeks or so to basically turn you into a different person and factored heavily into whether any new humans were created, you’d probably want to keep abreast of the schedule, yeah? Yeah. So, while there are, of course, a ton of ways to do this with your phone, most of those apps do gross things with your data. Are you angry yet?
[Jakoba the Online Witch] certainly was, or if not angry, at least annoyed. So she built
a glowing egg timer, which shines a different color based on current point in her cycle
, to let her know when she is fertile and expecting Aunt Flo.
The coolest part is that this is an actual egg from one of [Jakoba]’s backyard chickens. No. The coolest part is how she was able to make so many holes without breaking it. (It took four tries.)
After bleaching the insides, the egg was ready to glow. As [Jakoba] says, the guts are simple — just a Wemos D1 Mini ESP8266, a WS2812 LED, and a heatsink. The enclosure consists of an inverted peanut bowl with a glass ornament hot-glued in place.
Once it was put together, all she had to do was add it in Home Assistant and use the current calendar state to trigger services from the YAML configuration.
Would you prefer an on-body solution?
Here’s an earring that tracks temperature
. | 28 | 9 | [
{
"comment_id": "7990789",
"author": "The Commenter Formerly Known As Ren",
"timestamp": "2024-09-07T12:14:37",
"content": "I followed the link to learn more about how the holes in the egg were made, but didn’t find much on that.As an aside, I also clicked on the WordPress cookie policy link while t... | 1,760,371,797.843854 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/09/07/large-language-models-on-small-computers/ | Large Language Models On Small Computers | Bryan Cockfield | [
"Artificial Intelligence"
] | [
"ESP32",
"GPT",
"large language model",
"llama",
"llama.2c",
"LLM",
"tinyllamas"
] | As technology progresses, we generally expect processing capabilities to scale up. Every year, we get more processor power, faster speeds, greater memory, and lower cost. However, we can also use improvements in software to get things running on what might otherwise be considered inadequate hardware. Taking this to the extreme, while large language models (LLMs) like GPT are running out of data to train on and having difficulty scaling up, [DaveBben] is experimenting with scaling down instead,
running an LLM on the smallest computer that could reasonably run one
.
Of course, some concessions have to be made to get an LLM running on underpowered hardware. In this case, the computer of choice is an ESP32, so the dataset was reduced from the trillions of parameters of something like GPT-4 or even hundreds of billions for GPT-3 down to only 260,000. The dataset comes from the
tinyllamas checkpoint
, and llama.2c is the implementation that [DaveBben] chose for this setup, as it can be streamlined to run a bit better on something like the ESP32. The specific model is the ESP32-S3FH4R2, which was chosen for its large amount of RAM compared to other versions since even this small model needs a minimum of 1 MB to run. It also has two cores, which will both work as hard as possible under (relatively) heavy loads like these, and the clock speed of the CPU can be maxed out at around 240 MHz.
Admittedly, [DaveBben] is mostly doing this just to see if it can be done since even the most powerful of ESP32 processors won’t be able to do much useful work with a large language model. It does turn out to be possible, though, and somewhat impressive, considering the ESP32 has about as much processing capability as a 486 or maybe an early Pentium chip, to put things in perspective. If you’re willing to devote a few more resources to an LLM, though,
you can self-host it and use it in much the same way as an online model such as ChatGPT
. | 6 | 3 | [
{
"comment_id": "7989941",
"author": "deL",
"timestamp": "2024-09-07T09:20:24",
"content": "Forget extortionate Raspberry Pi AI add-ons, many SBC processors now haveinbuiltneural processing units (NPUs)…and they absolutely book:https://www.rock-chips.com/uploads/pdf/2022.8.26/192/RK3566%20Brief%20Da... | 1,760,371,798.204317 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/09/06/getting-started-with-polypropylene-pp-3d-printing/ | Getting Started With Polypropylene (PP) 3D Printing | Maya Posch | [
"3d Printer hacks"
] | [
"polypropylene"
] | Polypropylene (PP) is a thermoplastic that has a number of properties that sets it apart from other thermoplastics which see common use with 3D printing, including PLA, ABS and nylon (PA). Much like ABS (and the similar ASA), it is a pretty touchy material to print, especially on FDM printers. Over at the [All3DP] site [Nick Loth]
provides a quick start guide
for those who are interested in using PP with 3D printing, whether FDM, SLS or others.
A nice aspect of printing with PP is that it requires similar temperatures for the extruder (205 – 275 °C) and print bed (80 – 100 °C) as other common FDM filaments. As long as airflow can be controlled in the (enclosed) printer, issues with warping and cracking as the extruded filament cools should not occur. Unlike ABS and ASA which also require an enclosed, temperature-controlled printing space, PP has an advantage that printing with it does not produce carcinogenic fumes (styrene, acrylonitrile, etc.), but it does have the issue of absolutely not wanting to adhere to anything that is not PP. This is where the article provides some tips, such as the use of PP-based adhesive tape on the print bed, or the use of PP-based print plates.
As far as PP longevity and recyclability goes, it compares favorably with ABS and PA, meaning it’s quite resilient and stable, though susceptible to degradation from UV exposure without stabilizers. Recycling PP is fairly easy, though much like with polymers like PLA, the economics and logistics of recycling remain a challenge. | 27 | 15 | [
{
"comment_id": "7990991",
"author": "sbrk",
"timestamp": "2024-09-07T13:03:51",
"content": "PET-G wins, in my book. I switched a number of years ago and never looked back.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "7998983",
"author": "Anonymous... | 1,760,371,798.161599 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/09/06/bluetooth-version-6-0-core-specification-released/ | Bluetooth Version 6.0 Core Specification Released | Maya Posch | [
"News"
] | [
"bluetooth",
"bluetooth 6"
] | The Bluetooth SIG
recently released
the core specification for version 6.0 of Bluetooth. Compared to 5.x, it contains a number of changes and
some new features
, the most interesting probably being Channel Sounding. This builds upon existing features found in Bluetooth 5.x to determine the angle to, and direction of another device using Angle of Arrival (AoA) and Angle of Departure (AoD), but uses a new approach to much more precisely determine these parameters. as defined in the
Technical Overview document
for this feature.
In addition to this feature, there are also new ways to filter advertising packets, to reduce the number of packets to sift through (
Decision-Based Advertising Filtering
) and to filter out duplicate packets (
Monitoring Advertisers
). On a fundamental level, the Isochronous Adaptation Layer (ISOAL) received a new framing mode to reduce latency and increase reliability, alongside frame spacing now being negotiable and additional ways to exchange link layer information between devices.
As with any Bluetooth update, it will take a while before chipsets supporting it become widely available, and for the new features to be supported, but it gives a glimpse of what we can likely expect from Bluetooth-enabled devices in the future. | 15 | 7 | [
{
"comment_id": "7989409",
"author": "Anthony",
"timestamp": "2024-09-07T07:02:12",
"content": "Does it have better security, I wonder?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "7992106",
"author": "The Commenter Formerly Known As Ren",
... | 1,760,371,798.276418 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/09/06/hot-water-heater-hacked-to-run-on-solar-juice/ | Hot Water Heater Hacked To Run On Solar Juice | Lewin Day | [
"Misc Hacks"
] | [
"heater",
"hot water",
"hot water heater",
"solar panel",
"solar power"
] | It’s 2024, and there’s no getting around it. Grid energy is expensive. [Darrell] realized that a lot of his money was going on water heating, and he came up with a neat solution. What if he could hack in some solar power to slash his bills at a minimum of fuss? It worked so well for him,
he’s whipped up a calculator to help others do the same.
[Darrell]’s idea was simple enough. He hooked up solar panels to just the bottom heating element of his hot water heater. This cut his power bill in half. His calculator is now up at
pvh20.com,
and it’s designed to help you figure out if it’s feasible for you. It takes into account your location, local power prices, and the amount of sun your area tends to get on a regular basis. It also takes into account the solar panels you intend to use and your water heater to determine how many panels you’ll need for properly hot water. Key all that in, and you’re well on your way to speccing a decent solar hot water setup. From there you’ll just need to buy the right stuff and wire it all up properly.
If you live in an area where the sun shines freely and the power is more expensive than printer ink, this could be a project well worth pursuing.
Cheaper hot water is a grand thing, after all.
[Darrell’s] calculator is really only the first step, and it doesn’t deal with the practicalities of installation, but that’s half the fun of a good project, right? Happy hacking! | 41 | 12 | [
{
"comment_id": "7986920",
"author": "Andrew",
"timestamp": "2024-09-06T23:49:33",
"content": "Nice! Now use solar electricity to power a heat-pump hot water heater and multiply the benefits.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "7988027",
"... | 1,760,371,798.360315 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/09/08/2024-tiny-games-contest-an-epic-minimalist-entertainment-system-indeed/ | 2024 Tiny Games Contest: An Epic Minimalist Entertainment System, Indeed | Kristina Panos | [
"ATtiny Hacks",
"contests",
"Games"
] | [
"2024 Tiny Games Challenge",
"attiny10",
"GPD340"
] | One way to keep things tiny is to make a system with cartridges where the brain lives on each cartridge instead of the platform itself. [Michael]’s
Epic Minimalist Entertainment System (EMES)
is one of those, and boy, is it tiny. EMES makes use of the ATtiny10, and they don’t get much AT-tinier than that.
This nearly microscopic console uses an equally Lilliputian display — a Plessey GPD340 vintage LED display, in fact. (Check out
[Michael]’s reverse engineering project
if you want to play around with these.) There are four ultra-small buttons for control and a buzzer for sound.
Now, the ATtiny10 is an 8Mhz microcontroller with 1KB of flash and 32 bytes of RAM. It has an 8-bit ADC and a somewhat surprisingly high four GPIO pins. But of course, that’s not enough. Not with the display, the four buttons, and the buzzer, so [Michael] had to come up with a way to multiplex everything to four GPIOs.
PB0 is shared between the buttons and the display’s serial data input. PB1 cleverly outputs the same PWM for both the brightness control and the buzzer. When the buzzer is needed, [Michael]’s code switches to a lower frequency and adjusts the duty cycle of the display to keep it readable. PB2 and 3 are serial clock inputs for the two display halves. Be sure to check it out the heated PONG action in the video after the break!
There’s still a little bit of time to enter the 2024 Tiny Games Contest! You have until Tuesday, September 10th, so
head on over to Hackaday.IO and get started
! | 2 | 1 | [
{
"comment_id": "8023574",
"author": "Ridokilos",
"timestamp": "2024-09-09T21:17:33",
"content": "This is the first time I’ve seen the word “lilliputian”, which my phone’s auto correct seems to indicate has the core of “lilliput” (a fictional small land according to an online dictionary), which indi... | 1,760,371,798.814452 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/09/08/repairing-a-hallicrafters-s-120/ | Repairing A Hallicrafters S-120 | Al Williams | [
"Radio Hacks",
"Repair Hacks",
"Teardown"
] | [
"Hallicrafters",
"vintage radio"
] | [MIKROWAVE1] claims he’s not a radio repair guy, but he agreed to look at a malfunctioning Hallicrafters S-120 shortwave receiver. He lets
us watch as he tries to get it in shape
in the video below. You’ll see that one of his subscribers had done a great job restoring the radio, but it just didn’t work well.
Everything looked great including the restored parts, so it was a mystery why things wouldn’t work. However, every voltage measured was about 20V too low. Turns out that the series fuse resistor had changed value and was dropping too much voltage.
That was an easy fix and got three of the radio’s four bands working. The fourth band had some problems. Fixing some grounding helped, but the converter tube was weak and a new replacement made it work much better.
There were some other minor issues, but in the end, the radio was back to its original glory. We have to warn you that restoring old radios can be addictive. The good news is,
thanks to the Internet
, you don’t have to figure it all out yourself or find a local expert who will take an apprentice. Hallicrafters was a huge name in the radio business after World War II, and, for that matter,
during the war
, too. | 2 | 1 | [
{
"comment_id": "8023025",
"author": "Bill",
"timestamp": "2024-09-09T19:16:39",
"content": "When I was a kid I was handed down a 1950 era Hallicrafters receiver from my dad who bought it, I believe, at an Air Force PX. It was a pretty basic set with AM and A beat frequency oscillator which worked ... | 1,760,371,798.861336 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/09/08/the-hidden-crystal-method/ | The Hidden Crystal Method | Adam Fabio | [
"Retrocomputing"
] | [] | Ever been working on a project and get stuck on one of those last little details? That’s what happened to [Empire of Scrap]. He’s building an
Ohio Scientific (OSI) superboard II replica
. He wants it to be accurate down to the dates on the chips. It is quite an impressive build. The problem is the crystal. OSI used large crystals, even by early 1980s standards. The crystal is in a large can with thick pins, like something you’d expect to find in old radio equipment. The problem is that this crystal package isn’t made anymore.
The crystal had to be exactly 3.932160 MHz, and while [Empire] has a huge collection of vintage crystals, he didn’t have the right one from the 70s. He did, however, have that value in a modern crystal.
The solution? Hide the new crystal in the can of an older one. The only problem is that crystals are sealed. The bottom appeared to be some sort of plastic or resin. Gong after it with a side cutter, [Empire] realized it was
glass
! Thankfully, none of it got in his eyes, though his hands may have taken a bit of a beating.
With the old crystal’s shell hollowed out, [Empire] installed the modern device and potted everything in resin. The transplant worked. Now, all that’s left is to fire up the OSI and start hacking.
Want to build a replica computer but don’t want to hunt down the parts?
Check out [Taylor] and [Amy’s] build of this minipet
. Regardless of the size of the case, crystals
all work in the same way
. | 25 | 9 | [
{
"comment_id": "8005068",
"author": "Peter",
"timestamp": "2024-09-08T08:12:30",
"content": "I suffer from CDO….. that’s OCD with the letters in the right order😂",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "8008886",
"author": "The Commenter Form... | 1,760,371,798.453714 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/09/07/how-hot-is-that-soldering-iron/ | How Hot Is That Soldering Iron? | Al Williams | [
"Repair Hacks",
"Teardown"
] | [
"soldering iron",
"temperature",
"thermocouple"
] | It is common these days to have a soldering iron where you can set the temperature using some sort of digital control. But how accurate is it? Probably pretty accurate, but [TheHWCave] picked up a vintage instrument on eBay that was made to
read soldering iron temperature
. You can see the video below, which includes an underwhelming teardown.
The device is a J thermocouple and a decidedly vintage analog meter. What’s inside? Nearly nothing. So why did the meter not read correctly? And where is the cold junction compensation?
The probe seemed okay when used with a modern meter. However, driving the meter directly showed a problem. It seemed like something was wrong with the meter’s movement.
Pulling the meter out revealed a handwritten label identifying the meter as having a full-scale deflection of just over 27 millivolts and using a 0.5 ohm external resistor. Unsurprisingly, the old meter had some issues with the thermocouple.
Pulling the meter showed that the compensation was actually inside the meter casing. The meter’s problem was due to these extra components: an NTC thermistor and a custom wire-wound resistor. Changing the resistor fixed the box. This time, he put the two components outside the meter housing in the vast space of the nearly empty case.
Today, we take measuring temperature for granted. Only the cheapest meters lack temperture measurement and you can use other techniques like IR sensors, too. But this was an interesting look at how it was done “back in the day” and an interesting repair, too.
Thermocouples
are an old standby for measuring high temperatures. With modern tech, it is pretty simple to
compensate
them. | 8 | 5 | [
{
"comment_id": "8004910",
"author": "arcturus",
"timestamp": "2024-09-08T07:57:42",
"content": "I’ve got a meter very similar to this one. The box is grey, and the probe is just sticking out the front of the box. I think it was unbranded or at least another brand. Grabbed it along with a nice Tektr... | 1,760,371,798.49668 |
Subsets and Splits
No community queries yet
The top public SQL queries from the community will appear here once available.