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https://hackaday.com/2024/06/01/an-ingenious-blu-ray-mini-disk-player/ | An Ingenious Blu-Ray Mini-Disk Player | Arya Voronova | [
"ARM",
"digital audio hacks",
"handhelds hacks",
"hardware",
"Portable Audio Hacks"
] | [
"Allwinner F1C100s",
"blu-ray",
"bluray",
"F1C100s"
] | [befi] brings us a project as impressive as it is reminiscent of older times,
a Blu-Ray mini disk player.
Easily fitting inside a pocket like a 8 cm CD player would, this is a labour of love and, thanks to [befi]’s skills both in electronics and in using a dremel tool.
A BluRay drive was taken apart, for a start, and a lot of case parts were cut off; somehow, [befi] made it fit within an exceptionally tiny footprint, getting new structural parts printed instead, to a new size. The space savings let him put a fully custom F1C100S-powered board with a number of unique features, from a USB-SATA chip to talk to the BluRay drive, to USB pathway control for making sure the player can do USB gadget mode when desired.
There’s an OLED screen on the side, buttons for controlling the playback, power and battery management – this player is built to a high standard, ready for day-to-day use as your companion, in the world where leaving your smartphone as uninvolved in your life as possible is a surprisingly wise decision. As a fun aside, did you know that while 8 cm CDs and DVDs existed, 8 cm BluRay drives never made it to market? If you’re wondering how is it that [befi] has disks to play in this device, yes, he’s used a dremel here too.
Everything is open-sourced –
3D print files, the F1C100S board,
and
the Buildroot distribution
complete with all the custom software used. If you want to build such a player, and we wouldn’t be surprised if you were, there’s more than enough resources for you to go off. And, if you’re thinking of building something else in a similar way, the Buildroot image will be hugely helpful.
Want some entertainment instead? Watch the video embedded below, the build journey is full of things you never knew you wanted to learn. This player is definitely a shining star on the dark path that is Blu-Ray, given that our most popular articles
on Blu-Ray
are
about
its
problems
. | 13 | 5 | [
{
"comment_id": "6763708",
"author": "Hirudinea",
"timestamp": "2024-06-01T23:51:41",
"content": "Nice work, now for the next project, reimagine this,https://obsoletemedia.org/videonow/",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "6763883",
"author... | 1,760,371,899.856491 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/06/01/take-control-of-ms-flight-sim-with-your-smartphone/ | Take Control OfMS Flight SimWith Your Smartphone | Arya Voronova | [
"Games",
"handhelds hacks",
"home entertainment hacks",
"Phone Hacks"
] | [
"flight sim interface",
"hotas",
"Joystick",
"microsoft flight simulator"
] | Anyone with more than a passing interest in flight simulators will eventually want to upgrade their experience with a HOTAS (Hands On Throttle-And-Stick) setup that has buttons and switches for controlling your virtual aircraft’s assorted systems, which are well supported by games such as
Microsoft Flight Simulator
(MSFS). But a traditional HOTAS system can be a bit of an investment, so you might want to thank
[Vaibhav Sharma] for the virtualHOTAS project
that brings a configurable HOTAS interface to your phone — just in time to try out that
Dune
expansion for MSFS.
The phone’s orientation sensors are used as a joystick, and on the screen, there’s both sliders and buttons you can use as in-game controls. On the back-end there’s a Python program on the computer which exposes a webserver that the phone connects to, translating sensor and press data without the need for an app. This works wonderfully in MSFS, as [Vaibhav] shows us in the video below. What’s more, if you get tired of the touchscreen-and-accelerometer controls, you can even connect a generic smartphone-designed game controller platform, to have its commands and movements be translated to your PC too!
All the code is open source, and with the way this project operates, it will likely work as a general-purpose interface for other projects of yours. Whether you might want to build an accessibility controller from its codebase, use it for your robot platform, maybe simply repurpose this project for any other game, [Vaibhav]’s creation is yet another reminder that we’re carrying a sensor-packed platform, and it might just help you build a peripheral you didn’t know you needed.
Don’t have a phone handy? Perhaps an Xbox controller could work with
just a few 3D printed upgrades,
or you could stock up on buttons and
build your own joystick
from scratch. Oh, and keeping HOTAS principles in mind can be pretty helpful — you might get to
redesign the venerable computer mouse,
for instance! | 3 | 3 | [
{
"comment_id": "6763662",
"author": "Alexander Pruss",
"timestamp": "2024-06-01T19:54:26",
"content": "I’m a little worried about the latency if this goes over WiFi.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "6763664",
"author": "Regent",
"timesta... | 1,760,371,899.698841 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/06/01/sometimes-its-not-the-solution/ | Sometimes It’s Not The Solution | Elliot Williams | [
"Hackaday Columns",
"Rants",
"Slider"
] | [
"hacks",
"newsletter",
"projects",
"Rant"
] | Watching
a video about a scratch-built ultra-precise switch for metrology
last week reminded me that it’s not always the projects that are the most elegant solutions that I enjoy reading about the most. Sometimes I like reading about hackers’ projects more for the description of the
problem
they’re facing.
A good problem invites you to brainstorm along. In the case of [Marco Reps]’s switches, for instance, they need to be extraordinarily temperature stable, which means being made out of a single type of metal to avoid unintentional thermocouple joints. And ideally, they should be as cheap as possible. Once you see one good solution, you can’t help but think of others – just reading the comments on that article shows you how inspiring a good problem can be. I’m not worried about these issues in any of my work, but it would be cool to have to.
Similarly, this week, I really liked [Michael Prasthofer]’s
deep dive into converting a normal camera into a spectrometer
. His solutions were all very elegant, but what was most interesting were the various problems he faced along the way. Things that you just wouldn’t expect end up mattering, like diffraction gratings being differently sensitive across the spectrum when light comes in from different angles. You can learn a lot from other people’s problems.
So, hackers everywhere, please share your problems with us! You think that your application is “too niche” to be of general interest? Maybe it’s another example of a problem that’s unique enough to be interesting just on its own. Let’s see what your up against. A cool problem is at least as interesting as a clever solution.
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
! | 54 | 9 | [
{
"comment_id": "6763622",
"author": "The Commenter Formerly Known As Ren",
"timestamp": "2024-06-01T15:47:10",
"content": "“So, hackers everywhere, please share your problems with us!”Since I believe that many of Hackaday readers are “age positive” (like me),you may end up with long drawn out compl... | 1,760,371,900.081847 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/06/01/inside-a-mystery-aerospace-computer-with-ken-shirriff/ | Inside A Mystery Aerospace Computer With [Ken Shirriff] | Dan Maloney | [
"Retrocomputing"
] | [
"avionics",
"computer",
"core memory",
"flight",
"navigation",
"Signetics"
] | When life hands you a mysterious bit of vintage avionics, your best bet to identifying it might just be to get it in front of the biggest bunch of hardware hounds on the planet. After doing a teardown and some of your own investigation first, of course.
The
literal black box in question
came into [Ken Shirriff]’s custody courtesy of [David] from
Usagi Electric
, better known for his
vacuum tube computer builds
and
his loving restoration of a Centurion minicomputer
. The unit bears little in the way of identifying markings, but [Ken] was able to glean a little by inspecting the exterior. The keypad is a big giveaway; its chunky buttons seem optimized for use with the gloved hands of a pressure suit, and the ordinal compass points hint at a navigational function. The layout of the keypad is similar to
the Apollo DSKY
, which might make it a NASA artifact. Possibly contradicting all of that is the oddball but very cool electromechanical display, which uses reels of digits and a stepper-like motor to drive them.
Inside, more mysteries — and more clues — await. Unlike
a recent flight computer [Ken] looked at
, most of the guts are strictly electronic. The instrument is absolutely stuffed with PCBs, most of which are four-layer boards. Date codes on the hundreds of chips all seem to be in the 1967 range, dating the unit to the late 60s or early 70s. The weirdest bit is the core memory buried deep inside the stacks of logic and analog boards. [Ken] found 20 planes with the core, hinting at a 20-bit processor.
In the end, [Ken] was unable to come to any firm conclusion as to what this thing is, who made it, or what its purpose was. We doubt that his analysis will end there, though, and we look forward to the reverse engineering effort on this piece of retro magic. | 10 | 10 | [
{
"comment_id": "6763595",
"author": "Antron Argaiv",
"timestamp": "2024-06-01T13:07:48",
"content": "Fascinating. Thanks for this!",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "6763615",
"author": "make piece not war",
"timestamp": "2024-06-01T14:52... | 1,760,371,899.991053 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/06/01/a-super-size-functional-tribute-to-an-ultrasonic-sensor/ | A Super-Size Functional Tribute To An Ultrasonic Sensor | Arya Voronova | [
"classic hacks",
"Toy Hacks"
] | [
"cardboard",
"Cardboard model",
"ultrasonic distance sensor"
] | Sometimes, it’s time to shut down the oscilloscope, and break out the cardboard and paints. If you’re wondering what for, well, here’s a reminder of
an Instructable from [CrazyScience],
that brings us back to cardboard crafts days. They rebuild one of the most iconic components for an electronics tinkering beginner — an ultrasonic distance sensor, and what’s fun is, it stays fully functional after the rebuild!
This project is as straightforward as it gets, describing all the steps in great detail, and you can complete it with just a hot glue gun and soldering iron. With materials being simple cardboard, aluminum foil, popsicle sticks, some mesh, and a single ultrasonic sensor for harvesting the transmitter and receiver out of, this is the kind of project you could easily complete with your kids on a rainy day.
Now, the venerable ultrasonic sensor joins the gallery of classics given a size change treatment, like the
555 timer
we’ve seen
two different
takes on, or perhaps
that one Arduino Uno
. Unlike these three, this project’s cardboard skeleton means it’s all that simpler to build your own, what’s with all the shipping boxes we accumulate. | 6 | 4 | [
{
"comment_id": "6763575",
"author": "schobi",
"timestamp": "2024-06-01T09:34:29",
"content": "So… basically a fancy new housing for the original sensors?What would happen if you also adjust the resonant frequencies to scale? 5x the size would give 125x the internal volume, so we’ll end up within th... | 1,760,371,899.746683 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/05/31/how-to-cram-945-leds-into-a-teeny-tiny-vegas-style-sphere/ | How To Cram 945 LEDs Into A Teeny Tiny Vegas-Style Sphere | Donald Papp | [
"LED Hacks",
"PCB Hacks"
] | [
"flexible PCB",
"led",
"rgb",
"vegas"
] | [Carl Bugeja] finds the engineering behind the Las Vegas Sphere fascinating, and made a video all about the experience of
designing and building a micro-sized desktop version
. [Carl]’s version is about the size of a baseball and crams nearly a thousand RGB pixels across the surface.
A four-layer flexible PCB is the key to routing data and power to so many LEDs.
Putting that many addressable LEDs — even tiny 1 mm x 1 mm ones — across a rounded surface isn’t exactly trivial. [Carl]’s favored approach ended up relying on a flexible four-layer PCB and using clever design and math to lay out an unusual panel shape which covers a small 3D printed geodesic dome.
Much easier said that done, by the way. All kinds of things can and do go wrong, from an un-fixable short in the first version to adhesive and durability issues in later prototypes. In the end, however, it’s a success. Powered over USB-C, his mini “sphere” can display a variety of patterns and reactive emojis.
As elegant and impressive as the engineering is in this dense little display, [Carl] has some mixed feelings about the results. 945 individual pixels on such a small object is a lot, but it also ends up being fairly low-resolution in the end. It isn’t very good at displaying sharp lines or borders, so any familiar shapes (like circles or eyes) come out kind of ragged. It’s also expensive. The tiny LEDs may be only about 5 cents each, but when one needs nearly a thousand of them for one prototype that adds up quickly. The whole bill of materials comes out to roughly $250 USD after adding up the components, PCB, controller, and mechanical parts. It’s certainly a wildly different build than its distant cousin,
the RGB cube
.
Still, it’s an awfully slick little build. [Carl] doubts there’s much value in pursuing the idea further, but there are plenty of great images and clips from the build. Check out the video, embedded below. | 18 | 8 | [
{
"comment_id": "6763577",
"author": "Peter Rees",
"timestamp": "2024-06-01T09:49:50",
"content": "Very interesting project! Due to the size constraints I wonder whether plastic fibres optics coupled to a flat array of LEDs might be a better option for the illumination? Maybe with 3D printed holder ... | 1,760,371,899.806993 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/05/31/tell-time-and-predict-the-heavens-with-this-astronomical-timepiece/ | Tell Time And Predict The Heavens With This Astronomical Timepiece | Donald Papp | [
"clock hacks"
] | [
"3d printed",
"astrolabe",
"astronomy",
"clock",
"eclipse"
] | Looking for a new project, or just want to admire some serious mechanical intricacy? Check out [illusionmanager]’s
Astronomical Clock
which not only tells time, but shows the the positions of the planets in our solar system, the times of sunrise and sunset, the phases of the moon, and more — including solar and lunar eclipses.
One might assume that the inside of the Astronomical Clock is stuffed with a considerable number of custom gears, but this is not so. The clock’s workings rely on a series of tabs on movable rings that interact with each other to allow careful positioning of each element. After all, intricate results don’t necessarily require complex gearing. The astrolabe, for example,
did its work with only a few moving parts
.
The Astronomical Clock’s mechanical elements are driven by a single stepper motor, and the only gear is the one that interfaces the motor shaft to the rest of the device. An ESP32-C3 microcontroller takes care of everything else, and every day it updates the position of each element as well as displaying the correct time on the large dial on the base.
The video below shows the clock in operation. Curious its inner workings? You can see
the entire construction process
from beginning to end, too. | 2 | 1 | [
{
"comment_id": "6763444",
"author": "alex",
"timestamp": "2024-05-31T16:10:08",
"content": "There is a youtube short by (I think) the same person with a laser cut version of the project. It claims that it can set the planets in under a minute and is scheduled to do that at midnight so you are unlik... | 1,760,371,899.652515 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/05/31/intels-anti-upgrade-tricks-defeated-with-kapton-tape/ | Intel’s Anti-Upgrade Tricks Defeated With Kapton Tape | Arya Voronova | [
"computer hacks",
"how-to"
] | [
"coffee lake",
"intel",
"intel CPU",
"kaby lake",
"pinmod"
] | If you own an Intel motherboard with a Z170 or Z270 chipset, you might believe that it only supports CPUs up to Intel’s 7th generation, known as Kaby Lake. Even the CPU socket’s pinout is different in the next generation — we are told, it will fit the same socket, but it won’t boot. So if you want a newer CPU, you’ll have to buy a new motherboard while you’re at it. Or do you?
Turns out, the difference in the socket is just a few pins here and there, and you can make a 8th or 9th generation Coffee Lake CPU work on your Z170/270 board if you
apply a few Kapton tape fixes and mod your BIOS,
in a process you can find as “Coffee Mod”. You can even preserve compatibility with the 6th/7th generation CPUs after doing this mod, should you ever need to go back to an older chip. Contrasting this to AMD’s high degree of CPU support on even old Ryzen motherboards, it’s as if Intel introduced this incompatibility intentionally.
There’s been
a
number of posts
on
various PC forums
and YouTube videos, going through the process and showing off the tools used to modify the BIOS. Some mods are exceptionally easy to apply. For example, if you have the Asus Maximus VIII Ranger motherboard, a single jumper wire between two pads next to the EC
will enable support without Kapton tape,
a mod that likely could be figured out for other similar motherboards as well. There’s a few aspects to keep in mind, like making sure your board’s VRMs are good enough for the new chip, and a little more patching might be needed for hyper-threading, but nothing too involved.
Between money-grab features like this that hamper even the simplest of upgrades and increase e-waste,
fun vulnerabilities
, and inability to sort out problems like stability power consumption issues, it’s reassuring to see users take back control over their platforms
wherever possible
, and brings us back to the days of modding Xeon CPUs to fit into 775 sockets.
Don’t get too excited though, as projects like Intel BootGuard are bound to hamper mods like this on
newer generations
by introducing digital signing for BIOS images,
flying under the banner of user security
yet again. Alas, it appears way more likely that Intel’s financial security is the culprit.
We thank [Lexi] for sharing this with us! | 60 | 14 | [
{
"comment_id": "6763337",
"author": "lamalas",
"timestamp": "2024-05-31T08:17:46",
"content": "Why do I only see this now? Time to upgrade my home server from 6th gen to 9th gen!",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "6763423",
"author": "ka... | 1,760,371,900.234935 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/05/30/noodles-time-themselves-while-cooking/ | Noodles Time Themselves While Cooking | Bryan Cockfield | [
"clock hacks",
"cooking hacks"
] | [
"3d printed",
"clock",
"instant noodles",
"mechanical",
"noodles",
"timer"
] | Despite the name, so-called “instant” noodles still need to sit for a few minutes before they’re actually ready to eat. Most people would likely use a simple kitchen timer to let them know when it’s time to chow down,
but this unique mechanical timer
uses the weight of the noodles themselves to power a timing mechanism.
The timer acts in much the same way that a pendulum clock would, in that a weight provides the energy to drive the clock’s mechanism which releases that energy in discrete steps. Besides a few metal parts and some magnets, the majority of the clock is 3D printed with a small platform on the side where the noodles rest. As the platform falls the weight drives the clock mechanism which will finally alert the user when they finish their descent three minutes later with the help of a small bell. There’s even an analog display which shows the number of minutes remaining before the noodles are ready to eat.
As far as single-purpose kitchen appliances go, this is one that we might find ourselves sacrificing some counter space for not only for the usefulness but also for the aesthetic appeal of the visible clock movements and high-quality design. It could even go beside
the automatic ramen cooke
r for when we’re too busy (or lazy) to even boil the water for instant noodles ourselves.
Thanks to [PietdeVries] for the tip! | 24 | 13 | [
{
"comment_id": "6763345",
"author": "shinsukke",
"timestamp": "2024-05-31T09:41:32",
"content": "The entire channel is a goldmine! Love it!",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "6763352",
"author": "Bob the builder",
"timestamp": "2024-05-31T... | 1,760,371,899.939986 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/05/30/clock-mixes-analog-digital-retrograde-displays/ | Clock Mixes Analog, Digital, Retrograde Displays | Bryan Cockfield | [
"clock hacks"
] | [
"3d printed",
"analog",
"arduino",
"binary",
"clock",
"digital",
"display",
"DS3231",
"laser cut",
"retrograde",
"voltmeter"
] | Unique clocks are a mainstay around here, and while plenty are “human readable” without any instruction, there are a few that take a bit of practice before someone can glean the current time from them. Word clocks are perhaps on the easier side of non-traditional displays but at the other end are binary clocks or even things like QR code clocks. To get the best of both worlds, though, multiple clock faces can be combined into one large display
like this clock build from [imitche3]
.
The clock is actually three clocks in one. The first was inspired by a binary clock originally found in a kit, which has separate binary “digits” for hour, minute, and second and retains the MAX 7219 LED controller driving the display. A standard analog clock rests at the top, and a third clock called a retrograde clock sits at the bottom with three voltmeters that read out the time in steps. Everything is controlled by an Arduino Nano with the reliable DS3231 keeping track of time. The case can be laser-cut or 3D printed and [imitche3] has provided schematics for both options.
As far as clocks builds go, we always appreciate something which can be used to tell the time without needing any legends, codes, or specialized knowledge. Of course, if you want to take a more complex or difficult clock face some of the ones we’re partial to are
this QR code clock
which needs a piece of hardware to tell the time that probably already has its own clock on it. | 6 | 2 | [
{
"comment_id": "6763338",
"author": "IIVQ",
"timestamp": "2024-05-31T08:33:55",
"content": "Alas, I’ve never learnt to read “standard” dial clocks (as in, I know how to decipher them but I can’t read the time “at a glance”) so all three clock faces are equally difficult to read for me.",
"paren... | 1,760,371,900.122867 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/05/30/2024-business-card-contest-a-game-for-two/ | 2024 Business Card Contest: A Game For Two | Kristina Panos | [
"Arduino Hacks",
"contests"
] | [
"2024 Business Card Challenge",
"arduino",
"tic-tac-toe"
] | If you want to make a good first impression on someone, it seems like the longer you can keep them talking, the better. After all, if they want to keep talking, that’s a pretty good sign that even if you don’t become business partners, you might end up friends.
What better way to make an acquaintance than over a friendly game of tic-tac-toe?
This one will probably take them by surprise, being a 4×4 matrix rather than the usual 3×3, but that just makes it more interesting. The front of the card has all the usual details, and the back is a field of LEDs and micro switches. Instead of using X and O, [Edison Science Corner] is using colors — green for player one, and red for player two. Since playing requires the taking of turns, the microcontroller lights up green and red with alternating single-button presses.
Speaking of, the brains of this operation is an ATMega328P-AU programmed with Arduino. If you’d like to make your own tic-tac-toe business card, the schematic, BOM, and code are all available. Be sure to check out the build and demo video after the break. | 2 | 2 | [
{
"comment_id": "6763333",
"author": "Peter Knoppers",
"timestamp": "2024-05-31T07:24:47",
"content": "With a 4×4 matrix of multi-color LEDs available, consider implementing L-game on it (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L_game).When I was a student at Delft University (EE dept.), there was a hardware ... | 1,760,371,900.273537 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/05/30/fixing-a-cameras-wifi-connectivity-with-ghidra/ | Fixing A Camera’s WiFi Connectivity With Ghidra | Arya Voronova | [
"digital cameras hacks",
"Reverse Engineering"
] | [
"camera hack",
"digital camera hack",
"Ghidra",
"samsung",
"WB850F"
] | If your old camera’s WiFi picture upload feature breaks, what do you do? Begrudgingly get a new one? Well, if you’re like [Ge0rg],
you break out Ghidra and find the culprit.
He’s been hacking on Samsung’s connected cameras
for a fair bit now,
and we’ve covered his adventures hacking on Samsung’s Linux-powered camera series throughout the last decade, from
getting root on them for fun,
to
deep dives into the series
. Now, it was time to try and fix a problem with one particular camera, Samsung WB850F, which had its picture upload feature break at some point.
[Ge0rg] grabbed a firmware update
.zip
, and got greeted by a bunch of compile-time debug data as a bonus, making the reverse-engineering journey all that more tempting. After figuring out the update file partition mapping, loading the code into Ghidra, and feeding the debug data into it to get functions to properly parse, he got to the offending segment, and eventually figured out the bug. Turned out, a particularly blunt line of code checking the HTTP server response was confused by
s
in
https
, and a simple spoof server running on a device of your choice with a replacement
hosts
file is enough to have the feature work again, well, paired with a
service that spoofs the long-shutdown Samsung’s picture upload server.
Turned out, a bunch more cameras from Samsung had the same check misfire for them, which made this reverse-engineering journey all that more fruitful. Once again,
Ghidra skills save the day. | 4 | 2 | [
{
"comment_id": "6763327",
"author": "Stanton",
"timestamp": "2024-05-31T05:14:52",
"content": "Nice! Is there something similar for Canon Irista?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "6763351",
"author": "macsimski",
"timestamp": "2... | 1,760,371,900.319137 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/05/30/old-spotify-car-thing-hacks-gain-new-attention/ | Old Spotify Car Thing Hacks Gain New Attention | Tom Nardi | [
"Linux Hacks",
"Musical Hacks"
] | [
"abandonware",
"Car Thing",
"obsolete hardware",
"spotify"
] | If you haven’t heard by now, Spotify is shutting down support for their “Car Thing” on
December 9th of this year
. Once that happens the automotive media player will officially be useless, with users being advised to literally throw them in the trash come December 10th. Call it an early Christmas present from your friends at the multi-billion dollar streaming company.
Surely the hardware hacking community can do a bit better than that. As it turns out, there’s actually been a fair amount of hacking and research done on the Car Thing, it’s just that most of it happened a couple years back when the device first hit the market. Things stagnated a bit in the intervening years, but now that the clock is ticking, there’s far more interest in cracking open the gadget and seeing what else we can do with it.
[lmore377]’s Car Thing
macropad hack from 2022
.
The
car-thing-reverse-engineering repository on GitHub
has a wealth of hardware and software information, and has been something of a rallying point for others who have been poking around inside the device. Unsurprisingly, the Car Thing runs Linux, and with relatively minor work you can gain U-Boot and UART access. With just 512 MB of RAM and a Amlogic S905D2 chip that’s similar to what powers the Radxa Zero, it’s not exactly a powerhouse. Then again, we’ve seen plenty of awesome projects done with less.
If you’re more into the step-by-step approach, security researcher
[Nolen Johnson] did a write-up
about getting access to the Car Thing’s internal Linux system back in 2022 that’s certainly worth a look. As you’d imagine, there’s also a few YouTube videos out there that walk the viewer through gaining access to the hardware.
This one from [Dinosaur Talks Tech]
not only provides a good overview of how to get into the system, but covers flashing modified versions of the stock firmware to unlock various features and tweaking the internal Linux OS.
Interestingly enough, while we’ve seen plenty of homebrew
hardware players for Spotify
over the years, this is the first time the Car Thing has ever crossed our path. Something tells us though that this isn’t the last time we’ll hear about this forlorn Linux gadget. | 26 | 10 | [
{
"comment_id": "6763218",
"author": "CJay",
"timestamp": "2024-05-30T17:17:20",
"content": "Doom. Obvs.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "6763273",
"author": "LordNothing",
"timestamp": "2024-05-30T20:07:38",
"content": ... | 1,760,371,900.546084 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/05/30/walking-through-a-scene-from-riven-on-the-apple-ii/ | Walking Through A Scene FromRivenOn The Apple II | Maya Posch | [
"Games",
"Retrocomputing"
] | [
"apple II",
"Myst",
"Riven"
] | Twenty years before the 1997 release of
Riven
– Cyan’s sequel to the critically acclaimed title
Myst
– a fruity company in California released the Apple II, a 6502-based microcomputer that would be produced until 1993. With the upcoming remake by Cyan of
Riven
into a fully 3D experience, [deater] found themselves wondering how much of the original game’s click-and-puzzle game
would fit on a 140 kB floppy
for the Apple II series of computers. Since
Myst
was able to be squeezed onto a mere three floppies and provide a reasonably playable version of the game on the Apple II, surely the same could be done for this sequel?
The Maglev in the Apple II port of
Riven
. (Credit: [deater])
Just a look at the
system requirements
for
Riven
(Win95+, 100 MHz Pentium, 16 MB RAM and 75 MB disk space) and the knowledge that the game came on five CD-ROMs (until the DVD release) should instill some trepidation that a serious demake would be needed. Ultimately [deater] managed to set the system requirements for the port to any Apple II with at least 48 kB of RAM. The same custom game engine as for the
Myst
port is used, with the original CG stills downsampled and the movies rotoscoped at fairly low framerate.
Although the ‘Disk 39’ in the video is currently the sole floppy, containing part of Dome Island and the Maglev, it is probably a fair assessment of how many 140 kB disks would be needed to port the entire game. Even with the downsampled graphics, [deater] reckons it would take on the order of hundreds of floppies to fit the whole thing. | 8 | 4 | [
{
"comment_id": "6763200",
"author": "The Commenter Formerly Known As Ren",
"timestamp": "2024-05-30T15:36:58",
"content": "Any word on a Pyst redux?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "6763244",
"author": "Joshua",
"timestamp": "2... | 1,760,371,900.643165 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/05/30/ch32v003-provides-ultra-cheap-speech-recognition/ | CH32V003 Provides Ultra Cheap Speech Recognition | Jenny List | [
"Microcontrollers"
] | [
"CH32V003",
"speech recognition"
] | Speech recognition was once the stuff of science fiction, but it’s now possible with relatively modest hardware. Just how modest, you ask? How about a 10 cent microcontroller?
[Brian Smith] has achieved
a very basic form of speech recognition on a CH32V003 RISC-V microcontroller
. It may only recognize spoken digits, but that it does so at all on such a modest platform is impressive in itself.
For training purposes it enlists the help of a desktop Linux computer, however the recognition process is purely in the ten cent chip. He goes into much detail about how it achieves this on a system without floating point arithmetic, as well as the other shortcomings of such a limited platform.
We’ve become used to thinking of super-cheap chips as of limited use, but the truth is they’re surprisingly more capable than expected. We’re seeing them starting to appear as subsidiary processors on some badges, so it will be interesting to see them proliferate in more projects now
their availability problems
have eased. Go on – for ten cents, what do you have to lose? | 6 | 3 | [
{
"comment_id": "6763146",
"author": "C. Scott Ananian",
"timestamp": "2024-05-30T12:47:46",
"content": "I like the idea of this as a low-power/low-cost wake-word engine.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "6763199",
"author": "Paul",
"times... | 1,760,371,900.687439 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/05/30/tiny-orrery-is-a-watchmakers-tour-de-force/ | Tiny Orrery Is A Watchmaker’s Tour De Force | Dan Maloney | [
"classic hacks"
] | [
"gear",
"lathe",
"orrery",
"pinion",
"Sun-Earth-Moon",
"watchmaking",
"wheel"
] | Six tiny gears, a few fancy pins, and some clever casting are what it takes to build
this tiny orrery
. And patience — a lot of patience, too.
As model solar systems go, this one is exceptionally small. Its maker, [Mike] from Chronova Engineering, says it measures about 20 mm across and qualifies as the smallest orrery around. We can’t officiate that claim, but we’re not going to argue with it either. It’s limited to the Sun-Earth-Moon system, and while not as complete as
some other models we’ve seen
, it’s still exquisitely detailed. The gears that keep the Moon rotating 12.4 times around the Earth for each rotation of our home planet around the Sun are tiny, and take an abundance of watchmaking skill to pull off.
The video below shows the whole process, which is absolutely entrancing to watch. There are some neat tricks on display, from milling out the arms of the main wheel using a powered tailstock spindle to casting the Sun from resin in a silicone mold. The final model, with the model Earth and Moon spinning around the Sun on delicate brass wheels, is a visual treat.
We’ve seen some interesting stuff from Chronova Engineering lately, including
this bimetallic tea timer
. | 3 | 3 | [
{
"comment_id": "6763163",
"author": "make piece not war",
"timestamp": "2024-05-30T13:45:44",
"content": "So, this is one of the parallel universes? Simplifyed of course.While the craftsmanship presented rivals with Clickspring’s, the presentation somewhat lacks the appeal of the same competitor to... | 1,760,371,900.588894 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/05/29/can-you-hear-me-now-try-these-headphones/ | Can You Hear Me Now? Try These Headphones | Al Williams | [
"Artificial Intelligence",
"Science"
] | [
"headphones",
"noise cancelling"
] | When you are young, you take it for granted that you can pick out a voice in a crowded room or a factory floor. But as you get older, your hearing often gets to the point where a noisy room merges into a mishmash of sounds. University of Washington researchers have developed what they call
Target Speech Hearing
. In plain English, it is an AI-powered headphone that lets you look at someone and pull their voice out of the chatter. For best results, however, have to enroll their voice first, so it wouldn’t make a great eavesdropping device.
If you want to dive into the technical details,
their paper
goes into how it works. The prototype uses a Sony noise-cancelling headset. However, the system requires binaural microphones so additional microphones attach to the outside of the headphones.
Given training data, we wonder if traditional correlation methods would be just as effective. In other words, you could use facial recognition to figure out who’s talking and pull their voice out using more traditional signal processing techniques. However, this system can potentially pick up sound from unknown speakers, figuring direction from the binaural microphones, so even if the correlation method worked well on known speakers, the new system is likely superior in new situations.
There’s more to
noise-cancelling headgear
than you might think. Or you can just go
low-tech
. | 12 | 6 | [
{
"comment_id": "6763088",
"author": "kista4a",
"timestamp": "2024-05-30T05:49:38",
"content": "> In plain English, it is an AI-powered headphone that lets you look at someone and pull their voice out of the chatter. For best results, however, have to enroll their voice first, so it wouldn’t make a ... | 1,760,371,900.842341 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/05/29/the-genius-of-slide-rule-precision/ | The Genius Of Slide Rule Precision | Maya Posch | [
"Science"
] | [
"slide rule"
] | Most people have heard of or seen slide rules, with older generations likely having used these devices in school and at their jobs. As purely analog computers these ingenious devices use precomputed scales on slides, which when positioned to a specific input can give the output to a wide range of calculations, ranging from simple divisions and multiplications to operations that we generally use a scientific calculator for these days. Even so, these simple devices are both very versatile and can be extremely precise, as [Bob, the Science Guy]
demonstrates in a recent video
.
Slide rules
at their core are very simple: you got different scales (marked by a
label
) which can slide relative to each other. Simple slide rules will only have the A through D scales, with an input provided by moving one scale relative to the relevant other scale (e.g. C and D for multiplication/division) after which the result can be read out. Of course, it seems reasonable that the larger your slide rule is, the more precision you can get out of it. Except that if you have e.g. the W1 and W2 scales on a shorter (e.g. 10″) slide rule, you can use those to get the precision of a much larger (20″) slide rule, as [Bob] demonstrates.
Even though slide rules have a steeper learning curve than punching numbers into a scientific calculator, it is hard to argue the benefits of understanding such relationships between the different scales, and why they exist in the first place. | 50 | 24 | [
{
"comment_id": "6763075",
"author": "AZdave",
"timestamp": "2024-05-30T03:07:07",
"content": "I got my EE degree with only a Post Versalog, and didn’t have access to a four function calculator until a year after I graduated and was working in industry. One of my professors had a Wang “portable” co... | 1,760,371,901.032327 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/05/29/floss-weekly-episode-785-designing-guis-and-building-instruments-with-eez/ | FLOSS Weekly Episode 785: Designing GUIs And Building Instruments With EEZ | Jonathan Bennett | [
"Hackaday Columns",
"Podcasts"
] | [
"EEZ",
"embedded",
"FLOSS Weekly",
"gui"
] | This week
Jonathan Bennett
chats with
Dennis
and
Goran
about EEZ, the series of projects that started with an Open Source programmable power supply, continued with the BB3 modular test bench tool, and continues with EEZ Studio, a GUI design tool for embedded devices.
EEZ hardware:
https://www.envox.eu/bench-power-supply/introduction/
https://www.envox.eu/eez-bb3/
https://hackaday.io/projects/hacker/90785
Build Yourself an Awesome Modular Power Supply
EEZ software:
https://www.envox.eu/studio/studio-introduction/
Goran’s EEZ related work:
https://www.envox.eu/2021/12/22/production-testing-automation-for-open-hardware-ulx3s-board
https://intergalaktik.eu/projects/stm32-ulx3s-module
https://intergalaktik.eu/projects/bb3-cm4
https://intergalaktik.eu/news/bb3-cm4-emc-h7
https://intergalaktik.eu/projects/stm32-ulx3s-module
Did you know you can watch the live recording of the show
right in the Hackaday Discord
? Have someone you’d like use to interview? Let us know, or contact the guest and have them contact us!
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 | 8 | 4 | [
{
"comment_id": "6763092",
"author": "darkspr1te",
"timestamp": "2024-05-30T06:20:36",
"content": "I have just received 3 RGB esp32s3’s and this guide could not be more timely , thanksdarkspr1te",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "6763099",
"aut... | 1,760,371,900.943905 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/05/29/pixel-graphics-from-an-hd44780-by-cutting-wires/ | Pixel Graphics From An HD44780, By Cutting Wires | Elliot Williams | [
"Microcontrollers"
] | [
"display",
"hd44780",
"lcd",
"pixel"
] | [Felipe Tavares] wasn’t satisfied with the boring default fonts on an HD44780-based display. And while you can play some clever tricks with user-defined characters, if you want to treat the display as an array of pixels,
you’ve got to get out your scalpel
and cut up a data line.
The hack builds on
work from [MisterHW] who documented the bits going from the common display driver to the display
, and suggested that by cutting the data line and sending your own bits, you could send arbitrary graphics. The trick was to make sure that they’re in sync with the display, though, which means reading the frame sync line in user code.
This done, it looks like [Felipe] has it working! If you can read Rust for the ESP32, he has even
provided us with a working demo
of the code that makes it work.
We can’t help but wonder if it’s not possible to go even lower-level and omit the HD44780 entirely. Has anyone tried driving one of these little LCD displays directly from a microcontroller, essentially implementing the HD44780 yourself?
Any way you slice it, this is a cool hack, and it opens up the doors to DOOM,
or as [MisterHW] suggests, Bad Apple on these little displays
. If you do it, we want to see it.
If your needs aren’t so exotic,
the classic HD44780 display is a piece of cake to get working
, and an invaluable tool in anyone’s toolbox. | 12 | 8 | [
{
"comment_id": "6763015",
"author": "jrfl",
"timestamp": "2024-05-29T20:50:37",
"content": "wonderful writeup",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "6763026",
"author": "Mike Szczys",
"timestamp": "2024-05-29T21:31:17",
"content": "This is... | 1,760,371,900.895209 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/05/29/printing-a-replacement-case-for-the-thinkpad-701c/ | Printing A Replacement Case For The ThinkPad 701c | Tom Nardi | [
"laptops hacks"
] | [
"3D printed enclosure",
"replacement parts",
"thinkpad",
"Thinkpad 701c"
] | Even among ThinkPads, which are nearly universally loved by hardware hackers and Linux tinkerers alike, the 701c is a particularly rare and desirable machine. Best known for it’s “butterfly” slide out keyboard, the IBM-designed subnotebook from the mid-1990s has gained a following all its own, with active efforts to repair and restore any surviving specimens still out in the wild.
[polymatt] has already taken on a number of 701c restoration projects, but the
recent release of a 3D printable case for the vintage laptop
is arguably the most impressive to date. After spending an untold number of hours with an original case and a pair of calipers, the final design has been released under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial license — in other words, you’re free to print one to spruce up your 701c, but don’t run off a stack of them and start trying to move them on Etsy.
Originally, [polymatt] just wanted to 3D print a replacement for the laptop’s display bezel. But as often happens with these sort of projects, things just sort of started rolling and pretty soon the whole case was modeled. As you might imagine, the printed case has some slight differences between the original. For example, the printed version is designed to use
heat set inserts
. There’s also certain components, such as the hinges, which need to be sourced from an original case.
The most obvious use of these files is to perform repairs — if a piece of your 701c case has broken, you might be able to use one of these files to create a replacement. But it also offers some fascinating possibilities for future modifications. If you were planning on replacing the internals of the 701c with something more modern, these files would make an excellent starting point to create a customized case to better fit more modern components.
Whatever you end up doing with these files, don’t be shy —
let us know
. | 11 | 5 | [
{
"comment_id": "6762938",
"author": "Eric Mockler",
"timestamp": "2024-05-29T16:20:10",
"content": "The first thing to do when tackling a project like this is buy a whole lot of the same color filament.The second thing to do, considering the project may make it to Hackaday, is buy up about 100 brok... | 1,760,371,901.085245 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/05/29/how-facebook-killed-online-chat/ | How Facebook Killed Online Chat | Lewin Day | [
"Current Events",
"Featured",
"Rants",
"Slider"
] | [
"aim",
"chat",
"Facebook messenger",
"irc",
"messenger",
"msn",
"msn messenger",
"online"
] | In the early days of the internet, online conversations were an event. The technology was novel, and it was suddenly possible to socialize with a whole bunch of friends at a distance, all at once. No more calling your friends one by one, you could talk to them all at the same time!
Many of us would spend hours on IRC, or pull all-nighters bantering on MSN Messenger or AIM. But then, something happened, and many of us found ourselves having shorter conversations online, if we were having any at all. Thinking back to my younger days, and comparing them with today, I think I’ve figured out what it is that’s changed.
Deliberate Choices
Having the right nick, profile image, and personal message was a big part of looking cool on MSN Messenger. You needed something that would make you seem interesting, hip, and worth talking to. Song lyrics were common. Credit: Screenshot,
MSN Messenger history
Twenty five years ago, a lot more of us were stuck getting by with dialup. The Internet wasn’t always on back then. You had to make the decision to connect to it, and sit at your computer to use it.
Similarly, logging into an IRC room was a deliberate action. It was a sign that you were setting aside time to communicate. If you were in a chat room, you were by and large there to talk. On AIM or MSN Messenger, it was much the same deal. If you wanted to have a chat, you’d leave your status on available. If you didn’t wanna talk, you’d set yourself to Busy or Away, or log off entirely.
This intentionality fostered meaningful interactions online. Back then, you’d sign in and you’d flick through your list of friends. If someone’s icon was glowing green, you knew they were probably up to talk. You might have a quick chat, or you could talk for hours. Indeed, logging on to a chatroom for an extended session was a pastime enjoyed by many.
If you were on Linux, or used multiple chat services, you might have experimented with multi-chat clients like Pidgin back in the day. Credit:
Uberushaximus, GPL
Back then, people were making the conscious decision to set aside time to talk. Conversations were more focused and meaningful because both parties had set aside time to engage. This intentionality led to richer, more engaging discussions because participants were fully present.
Furthermore, the need to log in and out helped create a healthy boundary between life online and off. Users balanced their online interactions with other responsibilities and activities. There was a clear distinction between online and offline life, allowing for more complete engagement in both. When you logged off, that was it. There was no way for your online friends to get a message to you in real time, so your focus was fully on what was going on in front of you.
Critical Shift
T’was the endless march of technology that changed the meta. Broadband internet would keep our computers online round the clock. You could still log in and out of your chat apps, of course, and when you walked away from your computer, you were offline.
But technology didn’t stop there. Facebook came along, and tacked on Messenger in turn. The app would live on the smartphones in our pockets, while mobile data connections meant a message from the Internet could come through at any time.
If your buddies were green, you could hit ’em up for a chat! Facebook kind of has us all defaulting to available at all times, though, and it throws everything off. Credit:
Pidgin.IM
Facebook’s always-on messaging was right there, tied to a website many of us were already using on the regular. Suddenly, booting up another app like AIM or MSN seemed archaic when we could just chat in the browser. The addition of the app to smartphones put Messenger everywhere we went. For many, it even started to supplant SMS, in addition to making other online chat platforms obsolete.
Always-on messaging seemed convenient, but it came with a curse. It’s fundamentally changed the dynamics of our online interactions, and not always for the better.
Perpetual availability means that there is a constant pressure to respond. In the beginning, Facebook implemented “busy” and “available” status messages, but they’re not really a thing anymore. Now, when you go to message a friend, you’re kind of left in to the dark as to what they’re doing and how they’re feeling. Maybe they’re chilling at home, and they’re down for a deep-and-meaningful conversation. Or maybe they’re working late at work, and they don’t really want to be bothered right now. Back in the day, you could seamlessly infer their willingness to chat simply by noting whether they were logged in or not. Today, you can’t really know without asking.
That has created a kind of silent pressure against having longer conversations on Facebook Messenger. I’m often reluctant to start a big conversation with someone on the platform, because I don’t know if they’re ready for it right now. Even when someone contacts me, I find myself trying to close out conversations quickly, even positive ones. I’m inherently assuming that they probably just intended to send me a quick message, and that they’ve got other things to do. The platform provides no explicit social signal that they’re happy to have a proper conversation. Instead, it’s almost implied that they might be messaging me while doing something else more important, because hey, Messenger’s on all the time. Nobody
sits down
to chat
on Facebook Messenger these days.
Do any of these people want to chat? I can’t tell, because they’re always online!
It’s also ruining the peace. If you’ve got Messenger installed, notifications pop up incessantly, disrupting focus and productivity. Conversations that might have once been deep and meaningful are now often fragmented and shallow because half the time, someone’s starting them when you’re in the middle of something else. If you weren’t “logged on” or “available”, they’d wait until you were ready for a proper chat. But they can’t know that on Facebook Messenger, so they just have to send a message and hope.
In a more romantic sense, Facebook Messenger has also killed some of the magic. The ease of starting a conversation at any moment diminishes the anticipation that once accompanied online interactions. Plenty of older Internet users (myself included) will remember the excitement when a new friend or crush popped up online. You could freely leap into a conversation because just by logging on, they were saying “hey, wanna talk?” It was the equivalent social signal of seeing them walk into your local pub and waving hello. They’re here, and they want to socialize!
It’s true that we effectively had always-on messaging before Facebook brought it to a wider audience. You could text message your friends, and they’d get it right away. But this was fine, and in fact, it acted as a complement to online messaging. SMSs used to at least cost a little money, and it was generally time consuming to type them out on a limited phone keypad. They were fine if you needed to send a short message, and that was about it. Meanwhile, online messaging was better for longer, intentional conversations. You could still buzz people at an instant when you needed to, but SMS didn’t get in the way of proper online chats like Facebook Messenger would.
The problem is, it seems like we can’t really go back. As with so many technologies, we can try and blame the creators, but it’s not entirely fair. Messenger changed how we used online chat, but Facebook didn’t force us to do anything. Many of us naturally flocked to the platform, abandoning others like AIM and MSN in short order .We found it more convenient in the short term, even if some of us have found it less satisfying in the long term.
Online platforms tend to figure out what we respond to on a base psychological level, and game that for every last drop of interaction and attention they can. They do this to sell ads and make money, and that’s all that really matters at the end of the day. Facebook’s one of the best at it. It’s not just online chat, either. Forums went the same way, and it won’t end there.
Ultimately, for a lot of us, our days of spending hours having great conversations online are behind us. It’s hard to see what could ever get the broader population to engage again in that way. Instead, it seems that our society has moved on, for the worse or for the better. For me, that’s a shame! | 84 | 37 | [
{
"comment_id": "6762894",
"author": "Ostracus",
"timestamp": "2024-05-29T14:13:48",
"content": "“Now, when you go to message a friend, you’re kind of left in to the dark as to what they’re doing and how they’re feeling. ”Sounds like a patience problem. Even before chat people were in the dark as to... | 1,760,371,901.22841 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/05/29/looking-forward-to-emf-2024/ | Looking Forward To EMF 2024 | Jenny List | [
"cons"
] | [
"electromagnetic field",
"emf",
"EMF 2024",
"EMF camp"
] | It’s that time of year again when some parts of our community travel out into the countryside to spend time with each other under canvas in a field somewhere with power and fast internet — it’s hacker camp season. Here in Europe that means it’s the turn of the British hackers to have the year’s large event, in the form of the latest incarnation of
Electromagnetic Field
. We’ll be there, camera and microphone in hand, and with luck we’ll be able to bring you a flavour of the event.
The atmosphere that comes from being in the company of several thousand like minds is stimulating enough, but what makes these outdoor events special is that the villages become so much more than simply a group of geeks at a table with their laptops. Where else can one find a tea room run by a hackerspace except courtesy of
MK Makerspace
, or a fully functional pop-up motor racing circuit from
Hacky Racers
?
This year’s event badge is an interesting one, the ESP32-S3 powered and hexagon-shaped
Tildagon
. It’s a bold attempt to redefine the event badge away from a one-off trinket into one that lasts across multiple events, with custom “Hexpansions” like the petals on a flower, intended to have new ones appear on an event by event basis.
If you’re going to be at EMF then maybe we can join you for a pint, otherwise we’ll be bringing you the best that we find there. To whet your appetite,
here’s something of the last one
. | 10 | 6 | [
{
"comment_id": "6762859",
"author": "David @DTL",
"timestamp": "2024-05-29T11:28:31",
"content": "See you there!",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "6762872",
"author": "BT",
"timestamp": "2024-05-29T12:44:04",
"content": ... | 1,760,371,901.275268 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/05/29/printed-case-lets-pair-of-rtl-sdrs-go-mobile/ | Printed Case Lets Pair Of RTL-SDRs Go Mobile | Tom Nardi | [
"Peripherals Hacks"
] | [
"3D printed enclosure",
"RTL-SDR",
"USB hub"
] | We’ll admit to not fully knowing what [Jay Doscher] has planned for the pair of RTL-SDR Blog V4 software defined radios (SDRs) that are enclosed in the
slick 3D printed enclosure he’s designed
. But when has that ever stopped us from appreciating a nice design when we see one?
Inside the ventilated enclosure is the aforementioned pair of RTL-SDR Blog V4 (SDRs), as well as a StarTech USB hub that they’re plugged directly into. It seems like it wouldn’t take much to adapt this design to any other pair of USB gadgets, such as flash drives or WiFi adapters.
In fact, if they’re smaller than the RTL-SDR [Jay] has used here, you could probably get away with only needing to modify the one side panel of the case.
The simple modularity of the design, with two end pieces and the top and bottom plates, makes such modifications easy as you don’t need to reprint the whole thing if you just want a different antenna aperture. It also makes it easy to print without support material, and with just a few tweaks, looks like it could be adapted to use laser-cut panels for the sides. This would not only be faster than printing, but depending on the material, could make for a very stout enclosure.
We’ve covered
several designs from [Jay] over the years
, including a number of
heavy-duty mobile “doomsday” computers
that certainly fit in with this same design aesthetic. After all, why not face the end of the world with a little style? | 25 | 7 | [
{
"comment_id": "6762848",
"author": "MrChristian",
"timestamp": "2024-05-29T09:09:35",
"content": "I suspect there may be an issue in their parts list – calls out / links to a USB A -> C cable, but the Startech hub uses a USB-B connector.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
... | 1,760,371,902.14658 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/05/28/the-6809-lives-on-in-an-fpga/ | The 6809 Lives On In An FPGA | Al Williams | [
"FPGA",
"Retrocomputing"
] | [
"6809",
"fpga",
"verilog"
] | At one point, the Motorola 6809 seemed like a great CPU. At the time it was a modern 8-bit CPU and was capable of hosting position-independent code and re-entrant code. Sure, it was pricey back in 1981 (about four times the price of a Z80), but it did boast many features. However, the price probably prevented it from being in more computers. There were a handful, including the Radio Shack Color Computer, but for the most part, the cheaper Z80 and the even cheaper 6502 ruled the roost. Thanks to the [turbo9team], however, you can now host one of these CPUs — maybe even a better version —
in an FPGA using Verilog
.
The CPU may be old-fashioned on the outside, but inside, it is a pipeline architecture with a standard Wishbone bus to incorporate other cores to add peripherals. The GitHub page explains that while the 6809 is technically CISC, it’s so simple that it’s possible to translate to a RISC-like architecture internally. There are also a few enhanced instructions not present on the 6809.
In addition to the source code, you’ll find a thesis and some presentations about the CPU in the repository. While the 6809 might not be the most modern choice, it has the advantage of having plenty of development tools available and is easy enough to learn. Code for the 6800 should run on it, too.
Even using through-hole parts, you can make a 6809 computer
fit in a tiny space
.You can also break out a
breadboard
. | 40 | 12 | [
{
"comment_id": "6762807",
"author": "BrightBlueJim",
"timestamp": "2024-05-29T06:39:25",
"content": "I don’t think the MPU price was a major factor. If it was, I don’t think it would have been used in the CoCo, since this was a budget computer, competing with the likes of the VIC-20 and Atari 400.... | 1,760,371,901.42764 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/05/28/whole-fruit-chocolate-skipping-the-sugar-by-using-the-entire-cacao-pod/ | Whole-Fruit Chocolate: Skipping The Sugar By Using The Entire Cacao Pod | Maya Posch | [
"Science"
] | [
"chocolate",
"food science"
] | Images of whole-fruit chocolate formulations after kneading at 31 °C and subsequent heating to 50 °C. The ECP concentration in the sweetening gel and the added gel concentrations in the CM are shown on the X and Y axes, respectively. (Credit: Kim Mishra et al., Nature Food, 2024)
It’s hard to imagine a world without chocolate, and yet it is undeniable that there are problems associated both with its manufacturing and its consumption. Much of this is due to the addition of sugar, as well as the discarding of a significant part of the cacao pod, which harbors the pulp and seeds. According to
a study
by [Kim Mishra] and colleagues in
Nature Food
, it might be possible to ditch the sugar and instead use a mixture of cacao pulp juice (CPJC) and endocarp powder (ECP), which are turned into a sweetening gel.
This gel replaces the combination of sugar with an emulsifier (lecithin or something similar) in current chocolate while effectively using all of the cacao pod except for the husk. A lab ran a small-scale production, with two different types of whole-fruit chocolate produced, each with a different level of sweetness, and given to volunteers for sampling. Samples had various ECP ratios in the gel and gel ratios in the chocolate mixture with the cacao mass (CM).
With too much of either, the chocolate becomes crumbly, while with too little, no solid chocolate forms. Eventually, they identified a happy set of ratios, leading to the taste test, which got an overall good score in terms of chocolate taste and sweetness. In addition to being able to skip the refined sugar addition, this manufacturing method also cuts out a whole supply chain while adding significantly more fiber to chocolate. One gotcha here is that this study focused on dark chocolate, but then some chocolate fans would argue vehemently that anything below 50% cacao doesn’t qualify as chocolate anymore, while others scoff at anything below 75%.
Matters of taste aside, this study shows a promising way to make our regular chocolate treat that much healthier and potentially greener. Of course, we want to know
how it will print
. Barring that, maybe how it
engraves
. | 34 | 15 | [
{
"comment_id": "6762790",
"author": "Bonnie Robinson",
"timestamp": "2024-05-29T04:30:07",
"content": "Chocolate without the guilt. I am in…",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "6762794",
"author": "Joe",
"timestamp": "2024-05-29T04:40:50",
... | 1,760,371,901.351841 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/05/28/digital-meter-from-1973-a-teardown/ | Digital Meter From 1973, A Teardown | Al Williams | [
"Teardown"
] | [
"beckman",
"digital voltmeter"
] | [Thomas] found an interesting probable
millivoltmeter
with some Beckman displays. Like many instruments from that time period, this one had a lot of tobacco smoke residue inside. The display unit inside had a sticker that not only showed the company that made it, but also had their Telex number on it, another sign of the times. You can see the device in the video below.
The unit looked like a one-off made by a hobbyist or a technician but the case looked suspiciously like old Bang and Olfusen equipment. Someone in the video comments mentions it was built for the service department.
Some of the wiring had not survived well and there was a broken display digit. What’s more, is the millivolt marking applied to the display. The actual instrument has dividers that provide readings in volts, not millivolts.
That Beckman display is very retro and [Thomas] breaks into that subassembly if you fancy a peek inside. Beckman made some
interesting displays
. Voltmeters sure have
changed
over the years. | 8 | 5 | [
{
"comment_id": "6762779",
"author": "dave",
"timestamp": "2024-05-29T01:52:04",
"content": "In 1977 this fullblown handheld multimeter was produced:https://www.frankbishopinventor.com/the-handheld-digital-multimeter-dmm-10/Apparently it was the “first” portable DMM. There is something about red sev... | 1,760,371,901.469883 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/05/28/play-giant-tetris-on-second-floor-window/ | Play GiantTetrisOn Second-Floor Window | Bryan Cockfield | [
"Games",
"home hacks"
] | [
"addressable",
"browser",
"javascript",
"led",
"qr code",
"snake",
"tetris",
"window"
] | Sometimes it seems like ideas for projects spring out of nothingness from a serendipitous set of circumstances. [Maarten] found himself in just such a situation, with a combination of his existing
Tetris
novelty lamp and an awkwardly-sized window on a second-floor apartment, he was gifted with
the perfect platform for a giant playable
Tetris
game built into that window
.
To make the giant
Tetris
game easily playable by people walking by on the street, [Maarten] is building as much of this as possible in the browser. Starting with the controller, he designed a NES-inspired controller in JavaScript that can be used on anything with a touch screen. A simulator display was also built in the browser so he could verify that everything worked without needing the giant display at first. From there it was on to building the actual window-sized Tetris display which is constructed from addressable LEDs arranged in an array that matches the size of the original game.
There were some issues to iron out, as would be expected for a project with this much complexity, but the main thorn in [Maarten]’s side was getting his controller to work in Safari on iPhones. That seems to be mostly settled and there were some other gameplay issues to solve, but the unit is now working in his window and ready to be played by any passers-by, accessed by a conveniently-located QR code.
Tetris
has been around long enough that there are plenty of unique takes on the game,
like this project from 2011 that uses
Dance Dance Revolution
pads for controllers
. | 11 | 6 | [
{
"comment_id": "6762715",
"author": "Paul",
"timestamp": "2024-05-28T20:25:04",
"content": "Also, MIT’s take on it, much larger:https://hacks.mit.edu/Hacks/by_year/2012/tetris/",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "6763096",
"author": "geek... | 1,760,371,901.698353 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/05/28/spark-plug-becomes-glass-cutter/ | Spark Plug Becomes Glass Cutter | Navarre Bartz | [
"classic hacks",
"Tool Hacks"
] | [
"cutting glass",
"glass cutter",
"rotary tool",
"spark plug"
] | Sometimes a hack doesn’t need to be rocket science to be useful. Take for instance [MofigoDIY] using an old spark plug to
build a glass cutter
.
Sure, going to grab a glass cutter at the hardware store might be easy, but there’s something satisfying about going the DIY route. [MofigoDIY]’s version of this classic hack is a bit more refined than the quick and dirty route of smashing the spark plug alumina and hot gluing it into a tube.
After using a rotary tool to cut off the threads and expose the narrow part of the ceramic, [MofigoDIY] grinds it down to a fine point. This lets the spark plug itself become the handle, so you don’t need any additional parts to make the cutter. Toward the end of the video, a heated wire is used to break a glass jar apart after it was scored which might be of interest even if you already have a glass cutter. Once you’re finished making your glass cutter, make sure you dispose of any chips left over, since ceramic spark plug fragments are
considered burglary tools
in some areas.
Would you rather just build the glass up additively? How about using a
laser cutter to sinter glass
or 3D printing fused silica using a
polymerized composite precursor
? | 15 | 5 | [
{
"comment_id": "6762690",
"author": "Tweepy",
"timestamp": "2024-05-28T19:39:07",
"content": "Well, everybody knows that spark plug ceramic will break car window, while road pebble won’t.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "6762695",
"aut... | 1,760,371,901.754027 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/05/28/keebin-with-kristina-the-one-with-the-auto-harp-typewriter/ | Keebin’ With Kristina: The One With The Auto Harp Typewriter | Kristina Panos | [
"Hackaday Columns",
"Peripherals Hacks"
] | [
"AlphaSmart",
"AlphaSmart NEO",
"arcboard",
"auto harp",
"autoharp",
"ergonomic keyboard",
"expensive keycaps",
"typewriter shop"
] | Image by [crazymittens-r] via
reddit
Where do I even begin with this one? Let’s start with the reasoning behind this giant beast’s existence, and that is medical necessity. [crazymittens-r] needed something that would let them keep working, and after many hours and many versions,
this is the current iteration of their ArcBoard
, which looks like it could control a spaceship.
You can read all about this version on GitHub, but here’s the gist — you’re looking at a split keyboard with dual macro pads, rotary encoders, and a built-in trackball. And oh yeah,
there are pedals, too
. Those are a whole other thing.
In this revision, [crazymittens-4] said no to hand-wiring and instead went with custom flexible PCBs. The encoders now have push-button LED screens, and overall, there are “more LEDs than QMK can handle”. There’s even a secret keyboard within the keyboard! I can’t express how much I want to put my hands on this thing.
$35,000 Gets You a Complete Typewriter Shop
Image via
the Boston Globe
As long as you’re the right person for the job, that is. Ever since his apprentice backed out of taking over,
Tom Furrier has been looking for just the right person to pick up the reins at Boston’s last remaining typewriter shop
.
Tom says he doesn’t have the time to train someone new, as he’d originally planned to retire this June. His asking price is a mere $10,000 over what he paid for the shop in 1990. He’s more interested in finding the right person than in making money from the deal.
That person would have “an extensive experience in typewriter repair,” he said. Tom has regular customers that must be taken care of, as well as a thin but steady stream of new customers who are sick of digital and want an old school experience.
Since the 1990s, Tom has run the business like it’s 1980, doing the books in actual books. But he believes that the new owner will need to bring things into the 21st century a bit, perhaps by selling typewriters online and moving the accounting to a computer. No matter what, Tom is holding out hope that he’s going to find just the right person.
The Centerfold: This Is What $500 In Keycaps Looks Like
Image by [sixteensixtisix] via
reddit
This sure is a hobby with a capital ‘H’, isn’t it? As long as you’re throwing money around,
check out how well these three keycap sets go together
on [sixteensixtisix]’s board. Too bad that the average cost of each set is about $140 minus shipping.
So this is an Ultimate Hacking Keyboard with GMK Dualshot, GMK Retrowave, and GMK Awaken key cap sets. it’s especially rough to see just two keycaps used from one of the sets, but it sure does look good! At least [sixteensixtisix] has their grail board now. That’s the most important 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 Thürey
Just look at this portable beauty! (See the handle on the right?) Manufactured from 1909 to 1912, Edward Thürey’s bizarre machine was one of the last weird-looking typewriters before the four-row QWERTY standard took over.
Image via
the Classic Typewriter Page
Not only are the 28 keys arranged in columns, the typebars are laid out horizontally to run parallel to the carriage, giving the the thing the appearance of a complex auto harp or other musical instrument.
Those two strips to the left of the keyboard are the Shift keys. It’s not clear to me whether one is a Caps Lock, but that would make more sense than having two Shifts on the left and none on the right.
The design is not completely out of left field, though. It used a typewheel inked by rollers like the Blickensderfer. And like the Hammond and the Chicago et. al, there’s a hammer behind the paper that forces the paper against the type.
Aside from the interesting keyboard layout, one disadvantage was that some keys required more force than others due to the complex leverage system at play.
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
. | 6 | 6 | [
{
"comment_id": "6762660",
"author": "Foldi-One",
"timestamp": "2024-05-28T18:26:38",
"content": "That Arcboard looks really crazy, in a good way, and really should get used for the control console in some sci-fi series. Though I think some of the previous revisions might be preferable by their look... | 1,760,371,901.807529 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/05/28/rotary-phone-lives-on-as-arduino-kitchen-timer/ | Rotary Phone Lives On As Arduino Kitchen Timer | Tom Nardi | [
"Arduino Hacks",
"classic hacks"
] | [
"Arduino Uno",
"phone ringer",
"rotary phone"
] | It’s safe to say that few people still use rotary phones on a daily basis. Hell, most of us don’t even use landline telephones anymore. But just because these classic phones are no longer being used for their original purpose doesn’t necessarily mean they’re doomed to become e-waste.
[Scott-28] recently sent in a particularly well-documented project
that turned an antique rotary phone into a digital kitchen timer using an internal Arduino. While we’re not sure practical is a word most folks would use to describe the resulting device, it’s certainly a conversation starter, and the details on how it was all implemented make for an interesting read.
As explained in the README, [Scott-28] first used an oscilloscope to figure out the pulses generated by the phone’s dial. From there, it was relatively easy to connect the dial to one of the pins on an Arduino Uno to determine which numbers the user had entered. The trickier part was getting the original bells to work — in North America, it takes up to 90 VAC to get a phone’s ringer going, which is quite a bit more than the lowly Arduino can handle.
Luckily, he was able to source an LS057020 “Black Magic” ring generator from Cambridge Electronics Laboratories. All you need to do is give it 5 volts DC, and it produces the necessary ring signal. [Scott-28] does note that the gadget makes a lot of electrical noise when in operation, but seems a small price to pay given how much complication it saves in the design.
With rotary decoding and the ringer settled it was just a matter of writing some code to glue it all together. Into the mix, [Scott-28] added a seven-segment LED display to show the current time, a couple of LEDs to indicate if the digits are hours, minutes, or seconds, and a button to kick the whole thing off. When the counter gets to zero, the ringer goes off, and as you’d expect, picking up the phone’s handset stops it.
We’ve seen hackers
interface with rotary phones before
, with some even
turning them into virtual assistants
. Plus, who could forget the
development of the incredible rotary cellphone
? Despite being old technology by even graybeard standards, it seems the rotary dial is either unwilling or unable to fade into obscurity, which is fine by us. | 5 | 3 | [
{
"comment_id": "6762643",
"author": "Observer",
"timestamp": "2024-05-28T17:10:33",
"content": "Initially, I cringed over the destruction of what might have been a cool vintage phone, until I saw the project photos… somebody had already butchered/Frankenstein-ed this thing a long time ago.As a mat... | 1,760,371,901.634045 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/05/28/the-tragic-story-of-the-ill-fated-supergun/ | The Tragic Story Of The Ill-Fated Supergun | Lewin Day | [
"Engineering",
"Featured",
"History",
"Original Art",
"Slider"
] | [
"artillery",
"Gerald Bull",
"gun",
"HAARP",
"supergun"
] | In the annals of ambitious engineering projects, few have captured the imagination and courted controversy quite like Gerald Bull’s Supergun. Bull, a Canadian artillery expert, envisioned a gun that could shoot payloads directly into orbit. In time, his ambition led him down a path that ended in both tragedy and unfinished business.
Depending on who you talk to, the Supergun was either a new and innovative space technology, or a weapon of war so dangerous, it couldn’t be allowed to exist. Ultimately, the powers that be intervened to ensure we would never find out either way.
First Shots Fired
Gerald Bull, pictured at the Space Research Institute at McGill University in 1964. Credit:
CC BY-SA 3.0
Gerald Bull was born in 1928 in Ontario, Canada. After a tumultuous youth, his uncle was able to find him a place at the University of Toronto at the age of sixteen. Where his uncle suggested the medical school, Bull requested a position in the newly established aeronautical engineering course. After passing an interview, he was able to begin his tertiary studies in the field at the age of sixteen.
He would go on to graduate in 1948, a strictly average student that had done little to distinguish himself during his period at the university. However, his energy and passion would eventually see him admitted to further study at the Institute of Aerodynamics, where he studied the design of advanced wind tunnels.
This academic pursuit laid the groundwork for his future endeavors. While finishing his PhD in 1950, Bull would eventually be nominated for military work with the Defence Research Board. That led to his position with the Canadian Armament Research and Development Establishment, where he dived into the world of advanced artillery technology.
The Project HARP gun, abandoned in Barbados. Credit:
Brohav, Public Domain
He began exploring the use of artillery guns for supersonic aerodynamic research, as a cheaper alternative to building high-speed wind tunnels. Later on, he would go on to develop the High Altitude Research Project (HARP), a joint Canadian-American initiative aimed at exploring ballistics at extremely high altitudes.
Kicking off in the 1960s, HARP’s most notable achievement was the creation of a massive gun capable of firing projectiles into the stratosphere, setting the stage for Bull’s lifelong obsession with superguns.
His early experiments with HARP demonstrated the potential of using artillery to reach the upper atmosphere, though the project was eventually shuttered due to financial and political pressures. The project developed a 16.4 inch (41.6 cm) smooth-bore gun which was installed for testing in Barbados.
By 1962, HARP was firing 330 pound (150 kilogram) finned projectiles at over 10,000 feet per second (3000 m/s), reaching altitudes of 215,000 feet (65 kilometers). The project was funded by using the projectiles to capture meteorological data in the upper atmosphere.
Aiming Higher
The seeds for Bull’s later work on the infamous Supergun were sown during these formative years. His desire was not just to shoot projectiles into the upper atmosphere, but to fire them so fast that they could actually reach orbit. His idea to achieve this was simple — he’d use a large gun to fire a projectile high into the atmosphere, where it would then ignite a rocket to boost its velocity further.
Bull’s SRC was in the arms trade, with the company desinging and manufacturing the GC-45 howitzer for multiple customers. Credit:
Sturmvogel 66, CC BY-SA 3.0
Well, simple enough on paper, anyway. But achieving this feat was altogether more complex in reality. Bull began investigating the concept during his time at the HARP project. There, he developed rocket-assisted projectiles that could be fired from an artillery gun without damage to the solid fuel propellant.
Plans centered around a small multi-staged rocket called the Martlet. It was to be fired from a 16.4 inch (41.6 cm) gun that was assembled by joining two existing naval cannons together into one massive barrel a full 110 feet (33.5 meters) long. Sadly, HARP’s funding began to dry up towards the end of the 1960s, and a change of government sealed the project’s fate.
Bull ended up going out on his own, establishing the Space Research Corporation (SRC) to pursue his goals. The company operated as an artillery consultancy for international clients, including the Canadian and US military. He developed improved rifling techniques which helped give military artillery longer range and better accuracy. SRC and Bull would go on to sell shells and guns to states all around the world. On the side, he continued to develop his orbital gun technology.
A small barrel section from Project Babylon exists in the collection of the Imperial War Museum, Duxford. Credit: CC BY-SA 3.0
The culmination of Bull’s work came in the late 1980s with the Supergun project. After serving jail time in the US for dealing arms to South Africa, Bull had moved away from clients in the West, and had taken up work with China and Iraq. Ultimately, though, this gave him the opportunity to pursue his dream of an orbital launch gun once more.
Officially known as
Project Babylon
, it was commissioned by Saddam Hussein in 1988, while he was then the Iraqi defense secretary. The project’s goal was ostensibly to develop a supergun capable of launching satellites into orbit, potentially reducing the cost and complexity of space launches. The guns were intended to fire multi-stage rocket propelled shells that would be capable of reaching orbit.
Bull agreed to continue work on conventional military artillery pieces for the Iraqi government, in exchange for a $25 million payment towards Project Babylon. The project would see the construction of multiple “Baby Babylon” guns, each measuring 147 feet (44.8 meters) long with a caliber of 13.8 inches (35 cm).
Big Babylon
The ultimate goal, however, was the production of two mighty PC-2 Big Babylon guns. They would measure 512 feet (156 meters) long with a massive 39 inch (99 cm) bore. The PC-2 was intended to be capable of launching a 440 lb (200 kg) satellite into an orbital trajectory, carried by a 4,400 lb (2,000 kg) rocket-assisted projectile. Alternatively, it could have launched a 1,300 lb (600 kg) projectile over 620 miles (1,000 km). The final gun would have sat almost 328 feet (100 m) high at the tip, with the barrel suspended by cables from a large supporting frame. The barrel itself was to weigh 1,510 tons, with the whole structure coming in at a hefty 2,100 tons in total.
Two segments of the Iraqi supergun, Big Babylon, are displayed at the Royal Armouries in Fort Nelson, Portsmouth. Credit:
Geni, GFDL CC-BY-SA
The technical challenges were immense. Achieving the necessary muzzle velocity to reach orbit required unprecedented gun lengths and extremely durable materials to withstand the immense pressures involved. The initial construction of the Baby Babylon revealed problems with seals between multiple barrel segments. This was a complication from a a necessary engineering decision, as producing a single barrel at such large sizes was impractical.
Meanwhile, the political implications of the project drew international concern. Given the fraught political situation at the time, a large Iraqi gun project was not popular on the international stage. On paper, the gun’s applications for military use were limited. It was not possible to readily aim the gun, nor could it fire rapid salvos on a given target. It was impossible to move or hide, and it was extremely vulnerable to air attack.
Regardless of these practical limitations, few countries wanted Iraq to have such a potent gun in any way, shape or form. Furthermore, Bull was continuing to work on other Iraqi artillery projects, including Scud missile development. This only made him more unpopular with Iraq’s enemies.
The project’s demise was as dramatic as its ambition. In 1990, Bull was assassinated in Brussels as he approached his apartment’s front door. It followed a series of break-ins to his home, which were suggested to be a threat to the engineer to cease his work on the project. His death effectively ended Project Babylon. Supergun components, which had been in production across Europe, were seized by customs officers, and Bull’s staff in turn abandoned the project. Parts of the gun still exist today, after being donated to museums in the UK.
In the aftermath, the Supergun project remains a fascinating study of the interactions between ambition, technology and politics. Gerald Bull’s legacy is a testament to the limits of engineering, and the limits of our own ruling structures. While technically feasible, the Supergun could not be born, given the perceived geopolitical ramifications of such a weapon.
Gerald Bull’s story is a poignant chapter in the history of space exploration technology, marked by brilliant engineering marred by political intrigue and a tragic end. It serves as a reminder of the complexities involved when mixed-use technologies clash with political interests and national security concerns. | 63 | 19 | [
{
"comment_id": "6762606",
"author": "Tim McN",
"timestamp": "2024-05-28T14:50:55",
"content": "The discussion I’dreallylike read—one that would satisfy both my down-to-earth engineer and my sky-high futurist dreamer—is: What would it take for single-stage-to-orbit (SSTO) to become a reality? Like… ... | 1,760,371,902.031448 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/05/28/feast-your-eyes-on-these-ai-generated-sounds/ | Feast Your Eyes On These AI-Generated Sounds | Tom Nardi | [
"Artificial Intelligence",
"Software Hacks"
] | [
"diffusion model",
"spectrogram",
"steganography"
] | The radio hackers in the audience will be familiar with a spectrogram display, but for the uninitiated, it’s basically a visual representation of how a range of frequencies are changing with time. Usually such a display is used to identify a clear transmission in a sea of noise, but with the right software, it’s possible to generate a signal that shows up as text or an image when viewed as a spectrogram. Musicians even occasionally use the technique to hide images in their songs. Unfortunately, the audio side of such a trick generally sounds like gibberish to human ears.
Or at least, it used to. Students from the University of Michigan have found a way to use diffusion models to not only create a spectrogram image for a given prompt, but to do it with
audio that actually makes sense given what the image shows
. So for example if you asked for a spectrogram of a race car, you might get an audio track that sounds like a revving engine.
The first step of the technique is easy enough — two separate pre-trained models are used, Stable Diffusion to create the image, and Auffusion4 to produce the audio. The results are then combined via weighted average, and enter into an iterative denoising process to refine the end result. Normally the process produces a grayscale image, but as the paper explains, a third model can be kicked in to produce a more visually pleasing result without impacting the audio itself.
Ultimately, neither the visual nor audio component is perfect. But they both get close enough that you get the idea, and that alone is pretty impressive. We won’t hazard to guess what practical applications exist for this technique, but the paper does hint at some
potential use for steganography
. Perhaps something to keep in mind the next time we try to
hide data in an episode of the Hackaday Podcast
. | 7 | 4 | [
{
"comment_id": "6762580",
"author": "PPJ",
"timestamp": "2024-05-28T12:30:41",
"content": "That is quite interesting. But I must disagree with this statement:” Unfortunately, the audio side of such a trick generally sounds like gibberish to human ears. Or at least, it used to.”Software inserting vi... | 1,760,371,902.326666 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/05/28/adafruit-badges-turned-electronic-invitations/ | Adafruit Badges Turned Electronic Invitations | Tom Nardi | [
"Games",
"Microcontrollers"
] | [
"electronic badge",
"invite",
"makecode",
"pybadge"
] | Despite what you might have heard, even the most devout Hackaday readers may eventually find themselves getting married. Should you ever find yourself in a situation where you need to send out invitations for your big day, or any other major celebration for that matter, you could do worse than follow the example
[Mokas] and their partner set with these memorable electronic wedding invitations
.
Inspired by the electronic badges distributed at hacker cons, [Mokas] decided to use Adafruit’ EdgeBadge and PyBadge devices to create a similar interactive keepsake that would be a bit more exciting than a piece of paper. While it would have been enough to have the wedding information pop up on the screen when they were turned on, the final invites actually boot into a retro-style game where you walk around talking to characters to uncover information about the event and the venue.
The game was created in Microsoft MakeCode Arcade, with a sprinkling of original and commissioned sprites. Early versions of the game ended up being a bit much for the Adafruit badge’s to handle, but after doing a bit of research on creating games for computationally-constrained platforms, [Mokas] was able to optimize the performance. For those that didn’t get a physical invite (no doubt ours was simply lost in the mail), you can
play the whole thing right in your browser
.
It’s a very clever idea, and while using custom hardware would have allowed for a more bespoke package, we can’t blame [Mokas] for wanting to keep this one simple. Getting everything ready for your wedding is already enough stress — it’s hardly the time to spin up a new board.
For a similar reasons, another Adafruit offering was selected to
power the couple’s e-ink baby development display
. | 8 | 2 | [
{
"comment_id": "6762559",
"author": "H Hack",
"timestamp": "2024-05-28T11:00:24",
"content": "The real cost is the marriage. Don’t do it. You can live perfectly happy without getting married.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "6762564",
... | 1,760,371,902.081829 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/05/27/an-improved-spectrometer-no-lasers-required/ | An Improved Spectrometer, No Lasers Required | Dan Maloney | [
"digital cameras hacks"
] | [
"bayer filter",
"color filter array",
"diffraction",
"Fuji",
"machine learning",
"spectrometer",
"spectroscopy",
"spectrum"
] | Here at Hackaday, we love it when someone picks up the ball from a previous project and runs with it. That’s what we’re all about, really — putting out cool projects that just might stimulate someone else to extend and enhance it, or even head off in an entirely new direction. That’s how the state of the art keeps moving.
This DIY spectrometer project
is a fantastic example of that ethos. It comes to us from [Michael Prasthofer], who was inspired by
[Les Wright]’s PySpectrometer
, a simple device cobbled together from a pocket spectroscope and a PiCam. As we noted at the time, [Les] put a lot of the complexity of his instrument in the software, but that doesn’t mean there wasn’t room for improvement.
[Michael]’s goals were to make his spectrometer a little easier to build, and to improve the calibration process and overall accuracy. To help with the former, he went with software correction of the color filter array on his Fuji X-T2. This has the advantage of not requiring
a high-power laser and precision micropositioner
to ablate the CFA, and avoids potentially destroying an expensive camera. For the latter, [Michael] delved deep into the theory behind spectroscopy and camera optics to develop a process for correlating the intensity of light along the spectrum with the specific wavelength at that location. He also worked a little machine learning into the process, training a network to optimize the response functions.
The result is pretty accurate spectra with no lasers required for calibration. The video below goes into a lot of detail and ends up being a good introduction to some of the basics of spectroscopy, along with the not-so-basics. | 23 | 6 | [
{
"comment_id": "6762531",
"author": "C",
"timestamp": "2024-05-28T07:39:26",
"content": "That’s not a Spectrometer. It’s is a Spectroguesser.I’ve seen better implementations using a CD, a box with a slit and a camera.You can also use color filters in front of a camera/light sensor (side to side, or... | 1,760,371,902.27268 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/05/27/recycling-of-portland-cement-and-steel-in-electric-arc-furnaces/ | Recycling Of Portland Cement And Steel In Electric Arc Furnaces | Maya Posch | [
"green hacks",
"Science"
] | [
"cement",
"Electric arc furnace",
"recycling"
] | The use of concrete and steel have both become the bedrock of modern-day construction, which of course also means that there is a lot of both which ends up as waste once said construction gets demolished again. While steel is readily recyclable, the Portland cement that forms the basis of concrete so far is not. Although the aggregate from crushed concrete can be reclaimed, the remainder tends to end up in a landfill, requiring fresh input of limestone to create more cement. Now a team of researchers from the University of Cambridge
claim to have found a way
to recycle hydrated Portland cement by using it as flux during steel production in electric arc furnaces (
EAFs
).
Not only does this save a lot of space in landfills, it also stands to reduce a lot of the carbon dioxide produced during cement and steel production, which is primarily from the use of limestone for cement and lime-dolomite for steel. The details can be found in the
open access paper
in
Nature
by [Cyrille F. Dunant] and colleagues. Essentially reclaimed cement paste is mixed with some fresh material to form the flux that shields the molten steel in an EAF from the atmosphere. The flux creates the slag layer that floats on top of the molten steel, with this slag after cooling down being ground up and turned into cement clinker, which is then mixed to create fresh cement.
The process has been patented by Cambridge, who call the product ‘
Cambridge Electric Cement
‘, with the claim that if using low-carbon power sources for the EAF like hydro and nuclear, it would constitute ‘no emissions’ and ‘no landfill’ cement. We have to see how this works out on an industrial scale, of course, but it would definitely be nice to keep concrete and cement in general out of landfills, while cutting back on limestone mining, as well as questionable practices like adding heavy metal-laden fly ash as filler to concrete.
Thanks to [cscott] for the tip. | 25 | 9 | [
{
"comment_id": "6762562",
"author": "Mystick",
"timestamp": "2024-05-28T11:13:04",
"content": "There was a book, I don’t recall the name, wherein the people of a desert wasteland in the future extracted water from the concrete works of ruined cities.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"re... | 1,760,371,902.211623 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/05/27/connecting-and-using-high-capacity-batteries-in-parallel/ | Connecting (And Using) High-Capacity Batteries In Parallel | Bryan Cockfield | [
"Battery Hacks"
] | [
"18650",
"battery",
"cell balancing"
] | For those willing to put some elbow grease into it, there is an almost unlimited supply of 18650 lithium ion batteries around for cheap (or free) just waiting to be put into a battery pack of some sort. Old laptop and power tool batteries are prime sources, as these often fail because of one bad cell while the others are still perfectly usable. [limpkin] built a few of these battery packs and now that he’s built a few,
he’s back with a new project that allows him to use four custom packs simultaneously
.
The problem with using different battery packs in parallel is that unless the batteries are charged to similar voltages, they could generate a very high and potentially dangerous amount of current when connected in parallel. This circuit board, powered by a small ATtiny microcontroller, has four XT60 connectors for batteries and a fifth for output. It then watches for current draw from each of the batteries and, using a set of solid-state relays, makes sure that no dangerous over-current conditions occur if the batteries are connected with mismatched voltages. The code for the microcontroller is available on
this GitHub page as well
.
An array of batteries with a balancing system like this has a number of uses, from ebikes to off-grid power solutions, and of course if you build your own packs
you’ll also want to build a cell balancer of some sort
as well. Batteries go outside the realm of theory and into that of chemistry, so we’ll also provide a general warning about working in potentially dangerous situations without specialized knowledge, but you can see how [limpkin]
built his original packs here
if you want to take a look at one person’s strategy for repurposing old cells. | 14 | 8 | [
{
"comment_id": "6762469",
"author": "Gösta",
"timestamp": "2024-05-27T23:38:01",
"content": "Very neat :-)",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "6762506",
"author": "Jouni",
"timestamp": "2024-05-28T05:36:12",
"content": "I don’t get this... | 1,760,371,902.379679 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/05/27/the-emperors-new-computer/ | The Emperor’s New Computer | Al Williams | [
"computer hacks"
] | [
"desk",
"liquid cooling",
"pc",
"standing desk"
] | You walk into a home office and see an attractive standing desk that appears bare. Where’s the computer? Well, if it is [DIY Perk]’s office, the desk
is
the computer. Like a transformer robot, the
desk transforms
into a good-looking PC.
He starts with a commercial desk and creates a replacement desktop out of some aluminum sheets and extrusions. The motion uses some V-slot profiles and linear rails. The monitor and keyboard shelf pop up on invisible hinges. When closed, there’s no trace of a computer.
The mechanics of the pop-out hatch are complex, but they worked the first time. At least, we think it was the first time. Video editing is a possibility! He did have to add some springs and pneumatics to keep it from slamming down. A magnet gives a positive lock feeling when you open the hatch.
The monitor is an ultra-wide OLED that can be curved or flat. He removed the electronics from the panel and mounted the screen on the inner part of the hatch. Half of the electronics went back into the desk. A small but powerful PC with an Intel I9 and a graphics card fit in the desk. A conventional power supply would be too large, but a pair of very thin GaN power supplies come to the rescue.
Surplus server heatsinks keep the system cool without breaking the bank.
Thermal management is also something that could easily be too thick. The solution was a custom brass heat spreader that runs the length of the desk, onto which he mounted 40 surplus server heatsinks paired with laptop fans. But when they failed to get the job done, larger heatsinks and fans were brought in. These stick out below the bottom of the desk, but you wouldn’t notice unless you were laying on the floor.
Honestly, the build is amazing. If you are on the fence, watch the first few seconds of the video where the desk transforms, and you’ll be hooked. The final step was to make the aluminum desktop look like wood with oak planks and some optical illusions.
We doubt our woodworking and machining skills are up to duplicating this, but we wish he’d take our money. Desk computers aren’t really
a new idea
, of course. Be glad you don’t have to build
a 1965 “desktop” computer
into a desk. | 57 | 19 | [
{
"comment_id": "6762424",
"author": "Hirudinea",
"timestamp": "2024-05-27T21:15:03",
"content": "Very nice but you know the Emperor’s new clothes was a tale about gullibility so if the title is to match the video the computer in the desk should be a 386.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
... | 1,760,371,902.486016 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/05/27/a-system-board-for-the-8008/ | A System Board For The 8008 | Bryan Cockfield | [
"Microcontrollers"
] | [
"8008",
"chip",
"intel",
"microcontroller",
"processor",
"retro",
"retrocomputing",
"stm32",
"system board",
"x86"
] | Intel processors, at least for PCs, are ubiquitous and have been for decades. Even beyond the chips specifically built by Intel, other companies have used their instruction set to build chips, including AMD and VIA, for nearly as long. They’re so common the shorthand “x86” is used for most of these processors, after Intel’s convention of naming their processors with an “-86” suffix since the 1970s. Not all of their processors share this convention, though, but you’ll have to go even further back in time to find one. [Mark] has brought one into the modern age
and is showing off his system board for this 8008 processor
.
The 8008 predates any x86 processor by about six years and was among the first mass-produced 8-bit processors even before the well-known 8080. The expansion from four bits to eight was massive for the time and allowed a much wider range of applications for embedded systems and early personal computers. [Mark] goes into some of the details for programming these antique processors before demonstrating his system board. It gets power from a USB-C connection and uses a set of regulators and level shifters to make sure the voltages all match. Support for all the functions the 8008 needs is courtesy of an STM32. That includes the system memory.
For those looking to develop something like this, [Mark] has also added his development tools to
a separate GitHub page
. Although it’s always a good idea for those interested in computer science to take a look at old processors like these, it’s not always the easiest path to get original hardware like this, which also carries the risk of letting smoke out of delicate components. A much easier route is to spin up an emulator like
an 8086 IBM PC emulator on an ESP32
. Want to see inside this old chip?
Have a look
. | 27 | 8 | [
{
"comment_id": "6762395",
"author": "Joshua",
"timestamp": "2024-05-27T18:29:57",
"content": "“The 8008 predates any x86 processor by about six years and was among the first mass-produced 8-bit processors even before the well-known 8080.”The i8080 was a mistake, though. It was early being supersede... | 1,760,371,902.55242 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/05/27/camera-and-lens-repair-hack-chat/ | Camera And Lens Repair Hack Chat | Dan Maloney | [
"Hackaday Columns",
"Slider"
] | [
"Hack Chat"
] | Join us on Wednesday, May 29 at noon Pacific for the
Camera and Lens Repair Hack Chat
with
Anthony Kouttron
!
Unlike the normies, most of us are pretty comfortable looking under the hood of just about anything electronic or mechanical. Whether it’s to effect a repair, make a modification, or just to take a look around, voiding warranties is what we do. A lot of us have hard limits, though, and will shy away from certain types of equipment. High voltages and radiation come to mind, as well as machines with lots of spinny bits that can devour your hands in a trice. One mustn’t be foolhardy, after all.
But one place that we’ve always feared to tread for some reason is camera equipment. Perhaps it has to do with all those impossibly tiny screws with subtly different lengths and the knowledge that putting the wrong screw in the wrong hole could have disastrous results. Or maybe it’s just the general fear that messing around with the insides of lenses could knock something slightly off-kilter and ruin the optics.
We’re certainly glad that Anthony Kouttron doesn’t share this trepidation. We recently featured
a lens repair
that he accomplished that was packed with tips and tricks for optical repairs. It turns out that Anthony has been repairing cameras for leisure since 2010, and has serviced both consumer and high-end cinema equipment — so he’s seen his fair share of broken camera bits. We’ve asked him to drop by the Hack Chat, so if you’ve been hesitant to dive into optical fixes, now might be your chance to learn about the dos and don’ts of camera and lens repair.
Our Hack Chats are live community events in the
Hackaday.io Hack Chat group messaging
. This week we’ll be sitting down on Wednesday, May 29 at 12:00 PM Pacific time. If time zones have you tied up, we have a
handy time zone converter
. | 13 | 8 | [
{
"comment_id": "6762461",
"author": "transistor-man",
"timestamp": "2024-05-27T22:49:01",
"content": "Looking forward to it!",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "6762486",
"author": "miked",
"timestamp": "2024-05-28T01:39:21",
"content":... | 1,760,371,902.609881 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/05/27/the-long-road-towards-reverse-engineering-the-esp32-wi-fi-driver/ | The Long Road Towards Reverse Engineering The ESP32 Wi-Fi Driver | Maya Posch | [
"Microcontrollers",
"Reverse Engineering"
] | [
"ESP32",
"reverse engineering"
] | Although much of the software that runs on the ESP32 microcontroller is open source, the Wi-Fi driver is not. Instead, it uses a proprietary binary blob. This was no problem for [Jasper Devreker]’s reverse-engineering of the ESP32’s Wi-Fi stack so far until he came face to face with
reverse-engineering the initialization
of the Wi-Fi peripheral. As it turns out, there is a lot of work involved after you call
esp_phy_enable
in the Espressif binary blob, with the team logging 53,286 peripheral accesses during the initialization phase. In comparison, sending a Wi-Fi packet takes about ten calls.
Currently, the way that the initialization step is handled is by having the initialization routine in the binary blob do its thing by configuring the radio and other elements before killing the FreeRTOS task and replacing it with their own version. The team is actively looking for a clean approach for moving forward that will avoid simply writing everything from scratch. For the Wi-Fi MAC, existing code (e.g., FreeBSD’s stack) could be used, but the radio code is much more of a headache. Clearly, there’s still a lot more work to be done in order to get a fully open-source Wi-Fi MAC and stack for the ESP32, but having the community (that’s you) pitch in might speed things up if there’s demand for an open-source driver.
[Jasper’s] been
working on this for a while
. He’s even built
a Faraday cage
to make the task easier. | 15 | 6 | [
{
"comment_id": "6762340",
"author": "Mike",
"timestamp": "2024-05-27T12:34:15",
"content": "Would really be great to make ESP32 fully open source! Keep on, thanks!",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "6762345",
"author": "James",
"timestam... | 1,760,371,902.665381 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/05/27/reinventing-rotary-switches-with-stepper-motors/ | Reinventing Rotary Switches With Stepper Motors | Al Williams | [
"Parts",
"Tech Hacks"
] | [
"relay",
"rotary switch",
"switch"
] | When you need to make very tiny measurements, even noise in closed relays can throw you off. [Marco] was able to observe this effect and wanted to build a switch that didn’t have this problem. He found a technical paper that used rotary switches operated by stepper motors instead of relays. So he decided to try making his
own version
. The video below shows how it turned out.
The first part of the video talks about why relays sometimes inject a tiny voltage into a closed circuit. He then looks at costly switches that would work. However, since he needed many switches, he decided to roll his own.
While this is painful, it does let you optimize for your particular application. That’s why it was important to understand why relays don’t work well in this application. Copying part of a design from a very interesting-looking switch, custom PCB switch decks arrived in the mail.
Did it work? Watch the video to find out. There was something very comforting about watching the switch rotors turn under automatic control. [Marco] reminded us that the switches look somewhat like an old auto distributor.
Measuring nanovolts isn’t for the faint of heart
. With a little help, your existing gear might be able to read
nanoamps
, however. | 22 | 10 | [
{
"comment_id": "6762319",
"author": "Assad Ebrahim",
"timestamp": "2024-05-27T10:37:58",
"content": "Fantastic build – incredible results, superb design and quality. Nice work on the video narrative: the witty remarks sprinkled throughout the video make for many smiles throughout the otherwise eff... | 1,760,371,902.880871 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/05/26/so-whats-all-this-halow-long-range-wifi-about-then/ | So What’s All This HaLow Long-Range WiFi About Then? | Jenny List | [
"Network Hacks"
] | [
"802.11ah",
"HaLow",
"networking"
] | We’re all used to wireless networking, but if there’s one thing the ubiquitous WiFi on 2.4 or 5 GHz lacks, it’s range. Inside buildings, it will be stopped in its tracks by anything more than a mediocre wall, and outside, it can be difficult to connect at any useful rate more than a few tens of metres away without resorting to directional antennas and hope. Technologies such as LoRa provide a much longer range at the expense of minuscule bandwidth, but beyond that, there has been little joy.
As [Andreas Spiess] points out in a recent video
though, this is about to change, as devices using the so-called HaLow or
IEEE 802.11ah
protocol are starting to edge into the realm of affordability.
Perhaps surprisingly, he finds the 5 GHz variant to be best over a 1km test with a far higher bandwidth. However, we’d say that his use of directional antennas is something of a cheat. Where it does come into its own in his tests, though, is through masonry, with far better penetration across floors of a building. We think that this will translate to better outdoor performance when the line of sight is obstructed.
There’s one more thing he brings to our attention, which seasoned users of LoRA may already be aware of. These lower frequency allocations are different between the USA and Europe, so should you order one for yourself, it would make sense to ensure you have the appropriate model for your continent. Otherwise, we look forward to more HaLow devices appearing and the price falling even further because we think this will lead to some good work in future projects.
We’ve looked at
801.22ah
— known as HaLow — before. The
spec
has been around for almost a decade, but affordable hardware hasn’t been. | 18 | 10 | [
{
"comment_id": "6762281",
"author": "ono",
"timestamp": "2024-05-27T06:39:49",
"content": "I´m surprised, because the Wikipedia article states that HaLow uses a usb-GHz (900MHz) carrier, so where does this “5G variant” comes from ?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
... | 1,760,371,902.985764 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/05/26/hunting-for-part-numbers-analyzing-the-buck-converter-on-mini-560-modules/ | Hunting For Part Numbers: Analyzing The Buck Converter On Mini 560 Modules | Maya Posch | [
"Reverse Engineering"
] | [
"buck converter module"
] | Some of us may have recently stumbled over these mysterious ‘Mini 560’ synchronous buck converter modules at various e-shopping websites. These little modules claim to take in 7-20 VDC and output whatever voltage they’re configured for (e.g., 5 VDC). What IC is used on these modules? Since the IC on these modules has had its markings laser-etched away, answering that particular question is a tedious sleuthing job. Fortunately, [MisterHW] has
done the legwork for us
already, with a detailed write-up.
Details like the nominal input rating, measured currents, and resulting efficiency values provide clues. Looking at the 0603 SMD resistor values for given output voltages provides the programming resistances, combined with the footprint of the QFN-20 package. After desoldering the IC on a sample board, the footprint was reminiscent of certain Texas Instruments (Ti) packages, leading to a perusal of the Ti parametric database and a couple of candidate matches.
JoulWatt JW5069A buck converter on a Mini 560 module.
The other provided parameters for the Mini 560, such as the 500 kHz frequency, narrows things down to two Ti parts: the TPS51397A and TPS56C230. The latter only accepts up to 18 VDC unless you look at the absolute maximum ratings, which matches the 20 VDC. The pin-out of the TPS56C230 also matches the Mini560 IC, but looking deeper, there’s no good match.
Catching a lucky break, [MisterHW] got pointed to the JoulWatt JW5069A, which, as it turns out, is a good match, including the odd footprint with bridged pads. Googling for this part number even led to images of the Mini 560 module without the laser-etching. It looks like JoulWatt may have been founded in China in 2013 to provide drop-in alternatives for Western parts like those from Ti (with the JW5068A also very interesting), but it still doesn’t really explain the laser-etched markings unless these parts aren’t designed for the export market? Some mysteries may never truly be solved, it seems.
Of course, we’ve seen other
buck converter modules
that are less mysterious. Want to know the theory behind it?
We got you
. | 17 | 7 | [
{
"comment_id": "6762260",
"author": "pelrun",
"timestamp": "2024-05-27T02:54:04",
"content": "The way the chinese manufacturing sector works, anything that sells and can be cloned *will* be cloned. So the laser etching is an attempt to obscure an otherwise trivial design so the original manufacture... | 1,760,371,903.216611 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/05/26/hackaday-links-may-26-2024/ | Hackaday Links: May 26, 2024 | Dan Maloney | [
"Hackaday Columns",
"Hackaday links"
] | [
"astronaut",
"Blue Origin",
"car repair",
"compiler",
"emfcamp",
"fax",
"hackaday links",
"massachusetts",
"New Shepard",
"shop manual",
"shrub",
"surplus",
"Teardown 2024"
] | Another day, another crop of newly minted minimal astronauts, as Blue Origin’s New Shepard made a successful suborbital flight this week. Everything seemed to go according to plan, at least until right at the end, when
an “unexpected foliage contingency”
made astronaut egress a little more complicated than usual. The New Shepard capsule had the bad taste to touch down with a bit of West Texas shrubbery directly aligned with the hatch, making it difficult to find good footing for the platform used by the astronauts for the obligatory “smile and wave” upon exiting. The Blue Origin ground crew, clad in their stylish black and blue outfits that must be murderously impractical in the West Texas desert, stamped down the brush to place the stairway, but had a lot of trouble getting it to sit straight. Even with the impromptu landscaping, the terrain made it tough to get good footing without adding random bits of stuff to prop up one leg, an important task considering that one of the new astronauts was
a 90-year-old man
. It seems pretty short-sighted not to have adjustable legs on the stairway, but there it is.
Over the years, this space has recorded the closure of multiple brick-and-mortar surplus stores in a sort of slow-motion death spiral. While each one is a loss to the hobbyist community,
this one
hits close to home because it’s the only one we’ve actually visited in person. “You-Do-It Electronics Center” was a fixture of the Boston surplus scene for 75 years, a remnant of a time when dozens of major manufacturers made homes in the suburbs within the I-95/Route 128 loop — all roads in Massachusetts have at least two names. Digital Equipment Corp., Wang, Data General, and Polaroid, not to mention defense contractors like Raytheon and institutions like MIT and Lincoln Laboratories, all contributed to the abundance of electronic surplus, and a lot of it ended up on the shelves at You-Do-It’s enormous store. We remember spending an afternoon there and feeling a little like being at Disneyworld — there was way too much to see in just one day, and you could easily spend a lot of money. The announcement doesn’t state a reason for the closure, but we’ll guess that it’s just not possible for the owners to keep up with the decreasing demand for random bits and pieces of electronics. Farewell, You-Do-It, and thanks for the memories.
If you enjoy working on vehicles as much as we do, you’re sure to have run into a job that would have been a lot easier if you only had access to the original shop manuals for the car. We’ve been in that boat before and been sorely tempted to shell out whatever the manufacturer demands for a paper copy of the manual, price be damned. Or, there’s
Operation CHARM
, or Collection of High-quality Auto Repair Manuals, which is exactly what it sounds like — an online archive of scanned manuals for virtually every car or truck made between 1982 and 2013. We’ve checked out the Toyota offerings, and while navigation is a bit idiosyncratic, the scan quality is pretty good. What’s really nice is that you can download a zip file with all the good stuff for offline use. At least theoretically; the servers were overloaded every time we tried. It’s hard to say what the rights situation is with this material or how long it will be before a takedown request, so strike while the iron is hot.
Here’s another con to add to your schedule:
Teardown 2024
. Scheduled for the weekend on June 21 in Portland, Oregon, Teardown looks like it’ll be a pretty good time.
The CFP link
is still active, so it looks like they’re still accepting proposals.
And finally, it’s the silliest toolchain we’ve ever seen:
Compilerfax
. First, print a hard copy of your C code, then fax it to a special phone number using a phone shaped like a hamburger. A Raspberry Pi will decode the fax and do OCR on it, submit the code to GCC for compilation, and generate a report with the output, if any. The Pi then calls back the original fax number and prints the report. Sadly but wisely, this service isn’t publically accessible, as it lives only on the private phone system of the York Hackerspace in the UK. But if you’re going to
EMFCamp
next week, you just might be able to give it a whirl. | 5 | 4 | [
{
"comment_id": "6762243",
"author": "The Commenter Formerly Known As Ren",
"timestamp": "2024-05-27T00:34:57",
"content": "The You-Do-It Electronics site looks pretty picked over.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "6762250",
"author": "David",... | 1,760,371,902.929226 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/05/26/icq-will-shut-down-on-june-26-this-year/ | ICQ Will Shut Down On June 26 This Year | Maya Posch | [
"News",
"Slider"
] | [
"ICQ",
"instant messenger"
] | In many ways, ICQ has always been a bit of a curiosity. It was one of the first major instant messenger clients of the 1990s. It saw broad uptake alongside the likes of AOL Instant Messenger and MSN Messenger. Yet, it outlasted both of them despite not being attached to an industrial juggernaut like AOL or Microsoft. After 27 years, however, it seems that the last petal will drop, with the
shutdown of ICQ
announced on the ICQ website for June 26, 2024.
Originally
launched
by an Israeli company, Mirabilis, in June of 1996, it took the Internet by storm, leading to AOL buying Mirabilis in June of 1998. Under the wing of AOL, ICQ kept growing its user base until it was sold to Digital Sky Technologies (now VK, which operates Mail.ru) in 2010. Around this time, the likes of Facebook and Google, with their own messaging solutions, came onto the scene, leaving ICQ to flounder. Ultimately, ICQ found a new home in the Russian market as a mobile messaging system until its imminent shutdown. Users are urged to move to the VK Messenger instead.
The demise of ICQ obviously led to a
blast of nostalgia
on sites like Hacker News, even though it has lost relevance in the West for many years. We’re sad to see this chapter end and will mourn the demise of our UINs (RIP, 61007952) along with our fellow compatriots in the usual IRC channels.
This is what happens when you
depend on the grid
. Going off the grid doesn’t have to look
homemade
, either. | 29 | 20 | [
{
"comment_id": "6762194",
"author": "Danjovic",
"timestamp": "2024-05-26T20:37:20",
"content": "a-au!!!Goodbye!",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "6762198",
"author": "Iván Stepaniuk",
"timestamp": "2024-05-26T20:57:55",
"content": "Ad... | 1,760,371,903.048988 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/05/26/how-do-you-fill-the-1n34-void/ | How Do You Fill The 1N34 Void? | Jenny List | [
"Parts"
] | [
"1N34",
"diode",
"germanium"
] | The germanium point contact diode, and almost every semiconductor device using germanium, is now obsolete. There was a time when almost every television or radio would have contained one or two of them, but the world has moved on from both analogue broadcasting and discrete analogue electronics in its lower-frequency RF circuitry. [TSBrownie]
is taking a look at alternatives to the venerable 1N34A point-contact diode
in one of the few places a point-contact diode makes sense, the crystal radio.
In the video below the break, he settles on a slightly more plentiful Eastern European D9K as a substitute after trying a silicon rectifier (awful) and a Schottky diode (great in theory, not so good in practice). We’ve trodden this path in the past and settled on a DC bias to reduce the extra forward voltage needed for a 1N4148 silicon diode to conduct because, like him, we found a Schottky disappointing.
The 1N34 is an interesting component, and
we profiled its inventor
a few years ago. Meanwhile, it’s worth remembering that
sometimes, we just have to let old parts go. | 31 | 15 | [
{
"comment_id": "6762145",
"author": "cliff claven",
"timestamp": "2024-05-26T17:43:16",
"content": "Why would I move away from it for my own projects? I have a significant stock on hand, and have since I was in uni, adding to it periodically as chance permitted. I added more to it a few months ago ... | 1,760,371,903.413001 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/05/26/weird-old-stereo-accessories/ | Weird Old Stereo Accessories | Al Williams | [
"home entertainment hacks"
] | [
"audio",
"hi-fi",
"stereo"
] | Some people trick out their cars. Some, their computers. There are even people who max out their audio systems, although back in 1979, there was more of that going on, probably, than today where you discresionary income is split so many ways. Case in point: [Alan Cross]
remembers how excited he was to get the Radio Shack catalog
that year. He was working at a grocery store, saved his money, and — over time — picked up a haul ranging from an equalizer to a strobe light.
Who didn’t need a power meter or a “light organ?” These gadgets seem cheap until you realize it was 1979 and [Alan] was a student working at a grocery store. He points out that the $20 power meter is about the same as $80 today.
Not that he got everything he wanted back then, either. He also wanted an Atari light synthesizer known as the C240. This oddball device converted sound from your stereo into video patterns on your TV. What did that look like? An old video from [World One Video] shows it off:
If you could find one in 1977, the $170 price tag might have put you off.
There are other gadgets to explore. A tiny TV/oscilloscope, an audio expander, and quite a few other period gizmos.
We are suckers for old tech around here, although usually towards electronic hobby gadgets. Not that we didn’t take an interest in
mobile record players
or
8-track scanners
. | 25 | 16 | [
{
"comment_id": "6762113",
"author": "PinheadBE",
"timestamp": "2024-05-26T14:20:02",
"content": "I’d be delighted to see a schematics and/or a teardown of that Atari Light synthesizer",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "6762149",
"author"... | 1,760,371,903.343813 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/05/25/everything-you-ever-wanted-to-know-about-the-uln2003/ | Everything You Ever Wanted To Know About The ULN2003 | Donald Papp | [
"Parts"
] | [
"darlington",
"deep dive",
"npn",
"uln2003"
] | The ULN2003 IC is an extremely versatile part,
and with the help of [Hulk]’s deep dive
, you might just get some new ideas about how to use this part in your own projects.
Each of the seven outputs works like this simplified diagram.
Inside the ULN2003 you’ll find seven high-voltage and high-current NPN
Darlington pairs
capable of switching inductive loads. But like most such devices there are a variety of roles it can fill. The part can be used to drive relays or motors (either brushed or stepper), it can drive LED lighting, or simply act as a signal buffer. [Hulk] provides some great examples, so be sure to check it out if you’re curious.
Each of the Darlington pairs (which act as single NPN transistors) is configured as open collector, and the usual way this is used is to switch some kind of load to ground. Since the inputs can be driven directly from 5 V digital logic, this part allows something like a microcontroller to drive a high current (or high voltage, or both) device it wouldn’t normally be able to interface with.
While the circuitry to implement each of the transistor arrays isn’t particularly complex and can be easily built by hand, a part like this is a real space saver due to how it packs everything needed in a handy package. Each output can handle 500 mA, but this can be increased by connecting in parallel.
There’s a video (embedded below) which steps through everything you’d like to know about the ULN2003. Should you find yourself wanting a much,
much
closer look at the inner secrets of this chip,
how about a gander at the decapped die
? | 27 | 9 | [
{
"comment_id": "6761908",
"author": "przemek",
"timestamp": "2024-05-25T14:52:44",
"content": "The entire chip also has a combined current limit of 600mA so you can’t really parallel the individual transistors for higher output. Even using separate chip packages to increase output current capacity ... | 1,760,371,903.48913 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/05/25/basic-classroom-management/ | BASIC Classroom Management | Bryan Cockfield | [
"Retrocomputing",
"Software Hacks"
] | [
"8086",
"basic",
"classroom",
"docker",
"education",
"emulation",
"software",
"x86"
] | While we don’t see it used very often these days, BASIC was fairly revolutionary in bringing computers to the masses. It was one of the first high-level languages to catch on and make computers useful for those who didn’t want to (or have time) to program them in something more complex. But that doesn’t mean it wasn’t capable of getting real work done —
this classroom management software built in the language
illustrates its capabilities.
Written by [Mike Knox], father of [Ethan Knox] aka [norton120], for his classroom in 1987, the programs were meant to automate away many of the
drudgeries
of classroom work. It includes tools for generating random seating arrangements, tracking attendance, and other direct management tasks as well as tools for the teacher more directly like curving test grades, tracking grades, and other tedious tasks that normally would have been done by hand at that time. With how prevalent BASIC was at the time, this would have been a powerful tool for any educator with a standard desktop computer and a floppy disk drive.
Since most people likely don’t have an 80s-era x86 machine on hand capable of running this code, [Ethan] has also included a docker container to virtualize the environment for anyone who wants to try out his father’s old code. We’ve often revisited some of our own BASIC programming from back in the day,
as our own [Tom Nardi] explored a few years ago
. | 22 | 8 | [
{
"comment_id": "6761883",
"author": "Ostracus",
"timestamp": "2024-05-25T11:50:56",
"content": "Pretty much, the spreadsheets carried the masses the rest of the way. While the techno-elite complain about, “right tool for the job”.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
... | 1,760,371,903.280343 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/05/25/hype-robot-rocks-out-with-the-twitch-chat/ | Hype Robot Rocks Out With The Twitch Chat | Lewin Day | [
"Robots Hacks"
] | [
"robot",
"twitch",
"twitch chat"
] | Have you ever wished for an automaton that can get the party started, raise the roof, and all that? You’ll want to meet
[DJ Pfeif]’s Flippin Rhobot
, then. He’s a hype bot from the world of Twitch streaming, and he apparently knows how to party.
Flippin Rhobot is controlled by an ESP32 that listens into the chat on [DJ Pfeif]’s stream. He’s got a vaguely humanoid form, and he can rotate on the spot and wave his arms in the air courtesy of a few servos. He’s also got a little computer terminal that displays the show’s “Hack the Planet” logo when he turns to face the screen. His body also features some addressable LEDs that flash and dance on command.
[DJ Pfeif] does a good job of explaining the project, and includes the code that laces everything together. Interfacing with Twitch chat can be fun, and we’ve featured
a guide on doing just that before, too.
If you’re building your own roboticized hype machine, don’t hesitate to
let us know.
Otherwise,
consider musing on the very idea of humanoid robots as a whole! | 1 | 1 | [
{
"comment_id": "6762494",
"author": "choc",
"timestamp": "2024-05-28T03:11:24",
"content": "love the small computer and magnet interaction!",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
}
] | 1,760,371,905.130888 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/05/24/linear-led-clock-looks-decidedly-vintage/ | Linear LED Clock Looks Decidedly Vintage | Kristina Panos | [
"clock hacks"
] | [
"clock",
"mid-century",
"RGB LED strip",
"RGB LEDs",
"triangles",
"wemos d1 mini"
] | We just love a good clock around here, and
something about those triangles gives this linear LED clock a deliciously mid-century vibe
. If you’ve read these pages for any length of time, you know that [andrei.erdei] loves clocks as much as we do, and is always coming up with interesting ways of displaying the passage of time.
This one is a remix of some other linear RGB clocks, but the result is distinctly [andrei.erdei]’s style. There’s nothing crazy going on under the hood here — it’s essentially a Wemos D1 mini running a strip of RGBs, and the microcontroller connects to a Wi-Fi router to get the time from a server. The magic is in the programming and the way the clock is read.
The brief but thorough demo video after the break does a much better job of explaining the display by showing various times of the day, but we’ll give it a shot. For one thing, it uses 24-hour time exclusively. There are four groups of triangles; yellow, red, green, and blue which correspond to tens and units of hours, and tens and units of minutes.
The triangles light up in groups of three in the order depicted in the animation. At midnight, none of the triangles are lit up. Again, it’s best explained in the video, looking at various times of day. Plus you can see the neat-o startup animation.
Are you more into sound than blinkenlights? Then
this customizable bird clock
may be for you. | 3 | 3 | [
{
"comment_id": "6761861",
"author": "fexwey",
"timestamp": "2024-05-25T07:42:34",
"content": "With all ws28xx strip projects, I find the missing cooling slots while completely isolating the LEDs concerning. PETG/ABS is not optional with this designs…Other than that: really neat project, gonna build... | 1,760,371,905.028808 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/05/24/regular-expressions-finally-come-to-microsoft-excel/ | Regular Expressions Finally Come To Microsoft Excel | Dan Maloney | [
"Software Hacks"
] | [
"excel",
"regex",
"regular expressions"
] | There are two types of people in the world: those who have no idea what a regular expression is, and those who not only know what they are but can compose them on the fly and tend to use them in situations where they’re clearly not called for. And it’s that latter camp, of which we consider ourself a proud member, that is rejoicing with
the announcement that Microsoft is adding regular expression support to Excel
.
Or perhaps not rejoicing so much as wondering what took so long. Yes, regular expressions have been part of VBA for a while now, but the new functions allow you to use regexes right in the spreadsheet grid. There are plenty of caveats, of course. The big one is that this is still in beta at this time, so you have to do some gymnastics to enable it, if you’re even allowed to in the first place. Second, support appears limited to three functions at the moment: REGEXTEST, which provides a logical test of pattern matching; REGEXEXTRACT, which returns a substring that matches a pattern; and REGEXREPLACE, which substitutes a string for a pattern. The video below walks through how to use these functions within spreadsheets.
What’s also unclear now is what flavor of regular expressions is supported. There are a bewildering number of entities in the regex bestiary — character classes, positional indicators, quantifiers, subexpressions, lazy and greedy matches, and a range of grouping constructs that perplex even regex pros. One hopes these new functions will support one of the existing regex standards, but Microsoft is famous for “extending and enhancing.” Then again, regex support has been in the .NET Framework for years and is pretty close to the Perl standard, so our guess is that it’ll be close to that.
If you fall into the “What’s a regex?” camp but want to change that, why not
get your grep on
? | 29 | 16 | [
{
"comment_id": "6761833",
"author": "ben",
"timestamp": "2024-05-25T02:39:17",
"content": "The guy in the video pronounced regex wrong. You’re supposed to roll the “r.”",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "6761837",
"author": "leo60228",
"t... | 1,760,371,905.348019 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/05/24/tentacle-robot-wants-to-hold-you-gently/ | Tentacle Robot Wants To Hold You Gently | Navarre Bartz | [
"Robots Hacks"
] | [
"biomimetic",
"biomimicry",
"entanglement grasping",
"pneumatic",
"pneumatic robot",
"robot",
"robot arm",
"robotic arm",
"soft robot",
"tentacle"
] | Human hands are remarkable pieces of machinery, so it’s no wonder many robots are designed after their creators. The amount of computation required to properly attenuate the grip strength and position of a hand is no joke though, so what if you took a
tentacular approach to grabbing things
instead?
Inspired by ocean creatures, researchers found that by using a set of pneumatically-controlled tentacles, they could grasp irregular objects reliably and gently without having to faff about with machine learning or oodles of sensors. The tentacles can wrap around the object itself or intertwine with each other to encase parts of an object in its gentle grasp.
The basic component of the device is 12 sections “slender elastomeric filament” which dangle at gauge pressure, but begin to curl as pressure is applied up to 172 kPa. All of the 300 mm long segments run on the same pressure source and are the same size, but adding multiple sized filaments or pressure sources might be useful for certain applications.
We wonder how it would do
feeding a fire
or loading a
LEGO train with candy
? We also have covered how to build
mechanical tentacles
and
soft robots
, if that’s more your thing. | 16 | 9 | [
{
"comment_id": "6761782",
"author": "CityZen",
"timestamp": "2024-05-24T23:05:34",
"content": "Looks like it still has a ways to go before the typical hentai/h/h/h/h/h/h anime fan will be satisfied.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "6761793",
... | 1,760,371,905.083612 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/05/24/building-an-8-color-automated-filament-changer/ | Building An 8-Color Automated Filament Changer | Lewin Day | [
"3d Printer hacks"
] | [
"3d printer",
"3d printing",
"automated filament change",
"filament"
] | Multi-filament printing can really open up possibilities for your prints, even more so the more filaments you have.
Enter the 8-Track from [Armored_Turtle]
, which will swap between 8 filaments for you!
The system is modular, with each spool of filament installed in a drybox with its own filament feeder .The dryboxes connect to the 8-Track changer via pogo pins for communication and power. While [Armored_Turtle] is currently using the device on a Voron printer, he’s designed it so that it can be easily modified to suit other printers. As it’s modular, it’s also not locked into running 8 filaments. Redesigning it to use more or less is easy enough thanks to its modular design.
The design hasn’t been publicly released yet, but [Armored_Turtle] states they hope to put it on Github when it’s ready. It’s early days, but we love the chunky design of those actively-heated drybox filament cassettes. They’re a great step up from just keeping filament hanging on a rod, and they ought to improve print performance in addition to enabling multi-filament switching.
We’ve seen some other neat work in this space before, too.
Video after the break.
[Thanks to Keith Olson for the tip!] | 12 | 3 | [
{
"comment_id": "6761766",
"author": "The Commenter Formerly Known As Ren",
"timestamp": "2024-05-24T22:07:25",
"content": "As a high school student in the 1970s, it’s nice to know 8-Track is back!",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "6761775",
"... | 1,760,371,905.441212 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/05/26/2024-business-card-challenge-adding-some-refinement-to-breadboard-power-supplies/ | 2024 Business Card Challenge: Adding Some Refinement To Breadboard Power Supplies | Bryan Cockfield | [
"contests"
] | [
"battery",
"boost",
"breadboard",
"power supply",
"prototype",
"prototyping",
"switch mode",
"usb"
] | For small electronics projects, prototyping a design on a breadboard is a must to iron out kinks in the design and ensure everything works properly before a final version is created. The power supply for the breadboard is often overlooked, with newcomers to electronics sometimes using a 9V battery and regulator or a cheap USB supply to get a quick 5V source. We might eventually move on to hacking together an ATX power supply, or the more affluent among us might spring for a variable, regulated bench supply, but this power supply built specifically for breadboards might thread the needle for this use case much better than other options.
The unique supply is hosted on a small PCB with two breakout rails that connect directly to the positive and negative pins on a standard-sized breadboard. The power supply has two outputs, each of which can output up to 24V DC and both are adjustable by potentiometers. To maintain high efficiency and lower component sizes, a switch-mode design is used to provide variable DC voltage. A three-digit, seven-segment display at the top of the board keeps track of whichever output the user selects, and the supply itself can be powered by a number of inputs, including USB-C or lithium batteries.
As an upgrade to one’s own janky power supply (
seen here in a project to upgrade the BIOS in an old laptop
) this is an excellent step up, and of course comes in a form factor that fits into our current design contest. Of course, if you need a little more current delivering capabilities, there are
some modern ATX modifications
that can provide a fairly robust benchtop supply without too much expense. You can find some more information about this power supply on
the project’s Kickstarter page
. | 6 | 5 | [
{
"comment_id": "6762094",
"author": "biuro",
"timestamp": "2024-05-26T11:57:41",
"content": "“The power supply for the breadboard is often overlooked, with newcomers to electronics sometimes using a 9V battery and regulator or a cheap USB supply to get a quick 5V source. We might eventually move on... | 1,760,371,905.223341 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/05/26/homebrew-computer-from-the-ground-up/ | Homebrew Computer From The Ground Up | Bryan Cockfield | [
"computer hacks"
] | [
"555 timer",
"clock",
"computer",
"counter",
"diy",
"machine code",
"memory",
"transistor"
] | Building a retro computer of some sort is a rite of passage for many of us, with some building replicas or restorations of old Commodores, Ataris, and other machines from decades past. Others go even further back, to the time of the Intel 8008 or earlier, and a dedicated few will build something completely novel. This project from [3DSage] falls squarely in the latter category,
with his completely DIY computer built component by component from scratch
, including the machine code needed to run it.
[3DSage] starts with the backbone of every computer: the clock. He first demonstrates how a pair of NOT gates with a set of capacitors can be used as a rudimentary clock pulse, then builds a more refined version with a 555 timer and potentiometer for adjustable rates. Then, it’s on to creating a binary counter, which is a fundamental part of the memory system for this small computer, and finally, allows this circuitry to behave like a normal computer. Using a set of switches to store values in memory and stepping through them with the clock, the computer can be programmed to do plenty of tasks just like a modern microcontroller.
[3DSage] built this project a few years ago and has used it for real-world applications such as controlling servos, LED arrays, playing music, and other tasks. Although he has to program it using his own machine code by hand, it’s a usable computer in many ways. If you want to eschew modernity and build a retro computer in the style of the 1960s, though,
this piece goes through what it would have been like to build a similar system
in the era when these computers were more common. If you have a switch fetish, you might like to see how
real computers worked
back then, too. | 12 | 7 | [
{
"comment_id": "6762046",
"author": "OH3MVV",
"timestamp": "2024-05-26T08:21:38",
"content": "I think that it is a sequencer rather than a computer. No ALU, no conditonal jumps, did not see any method to writing RAM except the switches. Nice looking project though.",
"parent_id": null,
"dep... | 1,760,371,905.280919 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/05/25/the-secret-behind-the-motion-of-microsofts-bendy-mouse/ | The Secret Behind The Motion Of Microsoft’s Bendy Mouse | Donald Papp | [
"Peripherals Hacks",
"Teardown"
] | [
"arc mouse",
"folding mouse",
"teardown"
] | The Surface Arc is a designed-for-travel mouse that carries flat, but curves into shape for use. It even turns on when it’s bent and shuts itself off when it’s flat. The device isn’t particularly new, but [Mr Teardown] was a bit surprised at the lack of details about what’s inside so
tears it down in a video
to reveal just how the mechanism works.
The mechanism somewhat resembles a beaver’s tail, and locks into place thanks to a magnetic connector at the base that holds the device’s shape.
The snap-action of the bending is accomplished with the help of a magnetic connection near the bottom end of the mouse’s “tail”, locking it into place when flexed. Interestingly, the on and off functionality does not involve magnets at all. Power control is accomplished by a little tab that physically actuates a microswitch.
There are a few interesting design bits that we weren’t expecting. For example, there is no mechanical scroll wheel. The mouse delivers similar functionality with touch sensors and a haptic feedback motor to simulate the feel and operation of a mechanical scroll wheel.
[Mr Teardown] finds the design elegant and effective, but we can’t help but notice it also seems perhaps not as optimized as it could be. There are over 70 components in all, including 23 screws (eight different kinds!), and it took [Mr Teardown] the better part of 45 minutes to re-assemble it. You can watch the entire teardown in the video embedded just under the page break; it’s a neat piece of hardware for sure.
If you’re in the mood for another mouse teardown, we have a treat for you:
an ancient optical mouse from the 80s
that required a special surface to work.
[via
Core77
] | 7 | 3 | [
{
"comment_id": "6762049",
"author": "helge",
"timestamp": "2024-05-26T08:50:28",
"content": "Gotta love a teardown that ends with the device being fully put together again.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "6762075",
"author": "poiuyt",... | 1,760,371,905.183277 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/05/25/one-mans-trash-is-a-rare-60000-historical-computer/ | One Man’s Trash Is… A Rare $60,000 Historical Computer | Al Williams | [
"Retrocomputing"
] | [
"8008",
"Q1",
"retrocomputer"
] | According to Smithsonian Magazine, a salvage company in London was cleaning out a property and found an odd-looking computer device. No one knew what it was, and they couldn’t find anything with a quick online search. The devices in question were two ultra-rare
Q1 computers
dating from the early 1970s.
While these machines looked formidable, they contained Intel 8008 CPUs but did have built-in screens, keyboards, and printers. The two machines had a few minutes of fame at Kingston University London and are now for sale. They will probably bring about $60,000 each. Not bad for salvage junk.
Ironically, the $60,000 price tag is lower than the original cost, reported at $90,000. The article reports that many Q1s were employed at NASA sites around the United States. There are also reports they were sold in Europe and Asia. It wasn’t clear if the newer machine was one of the Q1s that used a Zilog Z80 instead of an 8008 or if both devices used the original Q1 CPU.
If you
haven’t heard of the Q1
, you haven’t been keeping up with your Hackaday reading, but you can watch the video below. Sure, that’s a Z80 machine, but you do get a peek inside. The
8008 gets a bad rap
, but for the time period, it was certainly high-tech. | 11 | 5 | [
{
"comment_id": "6762034",
"author": "BotherSaidPooh",
"timestamp": "2024-05-26T06:44:46",
"content": "As it happens, I have an 8088 here. Think I saw one of these in “Star Trek TNG”",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "6762289",
"author": ... | 1,760,371,905.393696 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/05/25/germanys-solar-expansion-and-the-negative-effects-of-electricity-overproduction/ | Germany’s Solar Expansion And The Negative Effects Of Electricity Overproduction | Maya Posch | [
"green hacks",
"News"
] | [
"green power",
"low-carbon power"
] | Amidst the push for more low-carbon energy, we see the demolishing of one of the pillars of electric grids: that of a careful balancing between supply and demand. This is not just a short-term affair. It also affects the construction of new power plants, investments in transmission capacity, and so on. The problem with having too much capacity is that it effectively destroys the electricity market, as suppliers need to make a profit to sustain and build generators and invest in transmission capacity. This is now the problem that Germany
finds itself struggling with
due to an overcapacity of variable renewable power sources (VRE) like solar and wind.
With a glut of overcapacity during windy and sunny days, this leads to prices going to zero or even negative. While this may sound positive (pun intended), it means that producers are not being paid. Worse, it means that when, for example, France buys German wind power for negative Euros via the European Electricity Exchange (EEX), it means that Germany actually pays France, instead of vice versa. The highly variable output of wind and solar also means a big
increase in curtailment and redispatch
measures to keep the grid stable, all of which costs money and drives up operating costs.
One suggested solution is to add more transmission capacity and
more grid-level storage
, but these scale poorly and are an economically dubious solution. Germany could also curtail its solar and wind generators, something which it currently avoids. Meanwhile, countries like
Finland
and France also integrate significant VREs on their grids, but with a strong base of hydropower and nuclear plants (both of which can load follow), which significantly reduces operating costs. Ultimately, some safe level of VRE grid integration will likely be found, alongside hydro and nuclear powerplants, including some with strong load-following capabilities like
TerraPower’s Natrium
. As we’ve mentioned before, this
isn’t just a European problem
. | 184 | 27 | [
{
"comment_id": "6761965",
"author": "SipsTea.....",
"timestamp": "2024-05-25T23:08:28",
"content": "Dump your surplus into electrolysis and store the hydrogen till its profitable to sell or run through fuel cells.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id... | 1,760,371,905.766818 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/05/25/how-a-dos-format-blunder-revealed-some-priceless-source-code/ | How A DOS Format Blunder Revealed Some Priceless Source Code | Jenny List | [
"Games",
"Retrocomputing"
] | [
"games",
"sierra online",
"source code",
"Space Quest II"
] | As those of us who worked in the consumer software world back when physical media was king can attest, when a master disc has been sent for duplication and distribution there is no turning back from whatever code is in the hands of thousands of users. Usually such worries were confined to bugs or inadvertently sending out pre-release software versions, but [Lance Ewing] is here with the story of how Sierra On-Line
once inadvertently released most of the source code for their game engine
.
If you have some 720k floppy disk versions of the 1988 game
Space Quest II
, the first disk in the set appears to have nothing out of the ordinary, but a closer look reveals that the free space on the disk reported by DOS is greater than its used space. Diving in to the disk block contents with a hex editor reveals that many of the unused blocks in fact contain C code, and some further detective work allows the recovery of a not-quite complete set of source files for the company’s AGI, or adventure game interpreter. They had been left behind when the original master disk had been emptied by deleting them, rather than by formatting it afresh.
In commercial terms this would in 1988 have been something of a disaster for Sierra had it been discovered at the time, because it was the cornerstone of their success. As it was we’re told the code sat peacefully undetected until 2016, since when it has proved invaluable to those interested in computer game archaeology. Or did it? We’ll never know if a sharp-eyed competitor snagged it, and kept quiet.
Of course, these days, there are
game engines
that are open source. Some of them are very modern. Others…
not so much
. | 14 | 8 | [
{
"comment_id": "6761952",
"author": "CJay",
"timestamp": "2024-05-25T21:12:00",
"content": "We used to buy boxes of “blank” 3.5″ floppies from a company called Chicken Shit Software, they were dirt cheap because they were overstock from a duplication house and Chicken Shit’s labels were stuck ove t... | 1,760,371,905.820004 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/05/25/a-look-at-3d-printed-shoes-hybrid-fully-printed-and-plain-weird/ | A Look At 3D Printed Shoes: Hybrid, Fully Printed And Plain Weird | Maya Posch | [
"Tech Hacks",
"Wearable Hacks"
] | [
"3d printed shoes",
"Additive Manufacturing"
] | In the eternal quest to find more things to do with 3D printers, shoes have been in the spotlight for a while now. But how practical is additive manufacturing in this field really?
Adidas Ultra 4D running shoes with 3D printed midsole.
This is where [Joel Telling] of the
3D Printing Nerd
YouTube
channel puts in his two cents
, with a look at a range of commercial and hobbyist ideas and products. Naturally, the first thing that likely comes to mind at the words ‘3D printed shoes’ is something akin to the plastic version of wooden clogs, or a more plastic-y version of the closed-cell resin of
Crocs
.
First on the list are the white & spiky
Kaiju Gojira
shoes from Fused Footwear, printed from TPE filament to order. TPE is softer to the touch and
more flexible
than TPU, but less durable. In contrast the Adidas Ultra 4D running shoes (from their
4D range
) are a hybrid solution, with a standard rubber outsole, 3D printed midsole with complex structures and mostly fabric top part. Effectively a Nike Air in initial impression, perhaps.
Meanwhile ‘3D printed’ shoes ordered off Chinese store Shein turned out to be not 3D printed at all, while [Joel] seems to be really into fully 3D printed shoes from Zellerfeld, who
appear to be using
TPU. While it’s hard to argue about taste, the Adidas shoes might appeal to most people. Especially since they’d likely let your feet breathe much better, a fact appreciated not only by yourself, but also family members, roommates and significant others. So which of these (partially) 3D printed shoes would you pick, or do you have some other favorite? | 7 | 7 | [
{
"comment_id": "6761921",
"author": "Ethan Waldo",
"timestamp": "2024-05-25T17:11:03",
"content": "Looks like Joel will be a great dance partner.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "6761922",
"author": "LordNothing",
"timestamp": "2024-05-2... | 1,760,371,905.873775 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/05/24/hackaday-podcast-episode-272-desktop-edm-silence-of-the-leaves-and-the-tyranny-of-the-rocket-equation/ | Hackaday Podcast Episode 272: Desktop EDM, Silence Of The Leaves, And The Tyranny Of The Rocket Equation | Dan Maloney | [
"Hackaday Columns",
"Podcasts"
] | [
"Hackaday Podcast"
] | With Elliot off on vacation, Tom and Dan made a valiant effort to avoid the dreaded “clip show” and provide you with the tastiest hacker treats of the week. Did they succeed? That’s not for us to say, but if you’re interested in things like non-emulated N64 games and unnecessarily cool filament sensors, this just might be one to check out.
We also came across a noise suppressor for a leaf blower, giant antennae dangling from government helicopters, and a desktop-friendly wire EDM setup that just might change the face of machining. We waxed on about the difference between AI-generated code and just pulling routines from StackExchange, came to the conclusion that single-stage-to-orbit is basically just science fiction, and took a look at the latest eclipse from 80,000 feet, albeit a month after the fact.
Where to Follow Hackaday Podcast
Places to follow Hackaday podcasts:
iTunes
Spotify
Stitcher
RSS
YouTube
Check
out our Libsyn landing page
Worried about attracting the Black Helicopters?
Download the DRM-free MP3
and listen offline, just in case.
Episode 272 Show Notes:
News:
The Business Card Challenge
is in full swing
What’s that Sound?
Tentative congratulations to fl42v! We’ll bug Elliot about getting you a shirt.
The Bloop
Interesting Hacks of the Week:
NetBSD Bans AI-Generated Code From Commits
Betta Aims To Bring Wire EDM To The Desktop
Powercore Aims To Bring The Power Of EDM To Any 3D Printer
Static Recompilation Brings New Life To N64 Games
Students’ Leaf Blower Suppressor To Hit Retail
This WiFi Filament Sensor Is Unnecessary, But Awesome
Flexures Keep This Printed Displacement Sensor In Line
Filming The Eclipse From 80,000 Feet
Quick Hacks:
Tom’s Picks
Trying To Build A Communications Device With A 1-Pound Laser And A 7805
[Scott Manley] Explains GPS Jamming
Amber Compiles To Bash
Dan’s Picks:
How To Lace Cables Like It’s 1962
Ribbon Cable Repair Saves Touch ID
Pi Pico Helps Restring Badminton Rackets
Can’t-Miss Articles:
Single-Stage-to-Orbit: The Launch Technology We Wish Was Real
Peeking Underground with Giant Flying Antennas | 1 | 1 | [
{
"comment_id": "6762389",
"author": "Jeremy O'Cassan",
"timestamp": "2024-05-27T18:01:26",
"content": "I want to make a Science Fiction suggestion for highly technically capable hackers to contemplate seriously concerning your excellent segment on why getting into LEO is so difficult. Do the math ... | 1,760,371,905.916456 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/05/24/dynamic-buttons-are-weird-blobs-you-can-press/ | Dynamic Buttons Are Weird Blobs You Can Press | Lewin Day | [
"Tech Hacks"
] | [
"button",
"dynamic button",
"electroosmotic pump",
"interface"
] | Imagine a flat surface that has no buttons on it, until they raise up like bubbles of goo for you to touch them. The Future Interface Group at Carnegie-Mellon has apparently developed just that.
They’re calling the technology DynaButtons
, and they look kinda weird…and very awesome.
The buttons use electro-osmotic pump technology. Basically, electricity is used to move a fluid under a flexible surface to create a dimple-shaped button. The team was able to increase the flow-rate of these pumps by 300% over traditional designs, while also integrating sensing for interactivity. This allowed the creation of a dynamic button that pops up as needed. The button design is fast and responsive. It’s able to readily change its position in an analog manner, both raising up and deflating below the base surface on command.
We don’t often cover
weird goopy-looking projects
around here, but maybe we should.
[Thanks to Keith Olson for the tip!] | 22 | 9 | [
{
"comment_id": "6761677",
"author": "The Commenter Formerly Known As Ren",
"timestamp": "2024-05-24T15:47:08",
"content": "I’m sure these will find a use in sexbots.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "6761682",
"author": "ThoriumBR",
... | 1,760,371,906.036535 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/05/24/this-week-in-security-drama-at-the-c-level-escape-injection-and-audits/ | This Week In Security: Drama At The C-Level, Escape Injection, And Audits | Jonathan Bennett | [
"Hackaday Columns",
"News",
"Security Hacks"
] | [
"ansi",
"Code Audit",
"dns",
"This Week in Security"
] | There was something of a mystery this week, with
the
c.root-servers.net
root DNS server falling out of sync with it’s 12 siblings
. That’s odd in itself, as these are the 13 servers that keep DNS working for the whole Internet. And yes, that’s a bit of a simplification, it’s not a single server for any of the 13 entities — the C “server” is actually 12 different machines. The intent is for all those hundreds of servers around the world to serve the same DNS information, but over several days this week, the “C” servers just stopped pulling updates.
The most amusing/worrying part of this story is how long it took for the problem to be discovered and addressed. One researcher cracked a ha-ha-only-serious sort of joke, that he had reported the problem to Cogent, the owners of the “C” servers, but they didn’t “seem to understand that they manage a root server”. The problem first started on Saturday, and wasn’t noticed til Tuesday, when the servers were behind by three days. Updates started trickling late Tuesday or early Wednesday, and by the end of Wednesday, the servers were back in sync.
Cogent gave a statement that an “unrelated routing policy change” both affected the zone updates, and the system that should have alerted them to the problem. It seems there might room for an independent organization, monitoring some of this critical Internet Infrastructure.
ANSI Injection One
On to vulnerabilities, there were a pair of interesting ANSI escape sequence injection flaws discovered this week. ANSI escape codes are strings sent to the terminal that don’t get directly written to the screen, but instead instruct the terminal how to write to the screen.
Just for example, to get green text on the terminal, you can run:
printf 'Hello \033[32mTHIS IS GREEN\033[0m\007'
The
first vulnerability was in WinRAR
, in the handling of the comments field of a RAR file. You may already see where this is going, but the problem is that ANSI escape sequences were blindly passed through as part of a comment, when doing something like listing the contents of a directory. This would be particularly useful to overwrite the file name to be extracted, to hide an executable or even path traversal attack. It’s worth noting that the
rar
and
unrar
had and have patched similar problems.
ANSI Injection Two
The second ANSI injection is a bit trickier. On the Mac,
terminals like iterm2 can register as the default handler for URIs
, like
x-man-page://
. The issue here is that some of those URIs aren’t necessarily safe, like the
man
link above, which supports the
-P
pager option. That flag specifies which paging utility to use to show multiple pages of text, like
less
,
more
, etc. Opening that from a browser will at least show a warning before launch. ANSI codes lets an attack be quite sneaky, hiding the full text inside an in-terminal clickable link. The terminal won’t warn the user about what they’re about to do, so instant execution on click. Clever.
QNAPping At The Wheel
QNAP has had its share of problems over the years. The
fine folks at Watchtowr decided to pitch in and try to find a few more
, and then do a responsible disclosure to try to fix them the right way. And they didn’t disappoint. The unofficial audit found fifteen issues, but this write-up focuses on CVE-2024-27130, an unauthenticated overflow leading to Remote Code Execution (RCE).
Given the history of vulnerabilities, this shouldn’t be a big surprise, but the source of QNAP OS is a mess. The underpinnings are a Linux system, but the web interface on top of that is a tangle of a custom web server written in C, CGI scripts also written in C, strange leftover code bits in languages like PHP, and at least one code snippet that looks suspiciously like a backdoor.
And that’s all before we get to the real vulnerability. The
cgi-bin/filemanager/share.cgi
endpoint segfaults when providing a valid “ssid” and then an overlong file name. Inside the vulnerable code, it’s a simple
strcpy()
call, that copies an arbitrary, user-provided string into a fixed-length buffer. Write past the end of it, and you overwrite local variables, and then the return address, too. And because of how returns work, you also get to set some registers, like r0, the traditional first argument register. So… what if you just set the return address to the
system()
function, and put a pointer to shellcode in r0? It’s pretty much that easy, except a real exploit would also need to overcome Address Space Layout Randomization (ASLR). Watchtowr researchers opted to leave that step out, to hopefully give QNAP users a few extra days before attacks happen in the wild.
Boost Got Audited, Too
And in a win for the Open Source way,
the Boost C++ library came through an audit with mostly flying colors
. The most severe finding was a CRLF injection in HTTP Headers, that’s only ranked medium severity. There are four low severity flaws, and two that only rank as informational. For the breadth of code that Boost covers, that seems pretty impressive.
The entire report is available
.
Where’d that come from?
The
Justice AV Solution Viewer is an interesting new target for malware
. It was discovered that the official
javs.com
website was hosting a backdoored installer for this software. The installer was signed by another valid signing key, and included an
fffmpeg.exe
binary that gets up to no good on install.
The malware then proceeds to steal authentication cookies and passwords. As this software is primarily used in courtrooms, it’s unclear what the exact motivation is. One possibility is that the viewer software is used by lawyers outside the courtroom, and a law office could be a very interesting target. For any computers infected, the recommendation is to re-image, and then also do a mass password rotation, to invalidate any stolen credentials.
Phishing Fire Drills
[Matt Linton], a “chaos Specialist” at Google
has some thoughts about Phishing
, specifically the style of phishing tests that get routinely aimed at users at larger companies. The TL;DR here is that phishing tests are a bad idea, and we should collectively stop it. A powerful argument he makes is that the Federally mandated phishing tests require existing anti-phishing protections to be disabled. A real attack is guaranteed not to look like the tests. And the data bears this out. Phishing tests are measurably counterproductive.
His suggestion is to stop doing phishing tests, and start doing phishing drills. Just an email to remind users that phishing is a thing, with links to more information, and instructions on what to do when the real thing comes along. And just for fun,
take a look at Google’s slick phishing quiz
, and see how you score. Let us know in the comments!
Bits and Bytes
It’s time again to
update your GitLab installs
. There’s a handful of medium severity bugs, as well as one high severity fixed with this round of updates. That last one is a weakness in the GitLab VS code editor, that can enable Cross-Site Scripting attacks. It’s unclear if that results in information exfiltration, or full account compromise, or perhaps the information loss can lead to compromise. Regardless, it’s worth pulling out your console and running the update.
Lastpass has finally fixed one of its longstanding weak-points,
now encrypting URLs in your secure vault
. When the service first launched, URLs were deemed to computationally expensive to encrypt. In the handful of security breaches at LastPass since then, it’s become very clear that unencrypted URLs was a terrible choice, as it gave that much more information away about users. Good for LastPass for continuing to work to right the ship.
And finally, you should go check out
the FLOSS Weekly interview from earlier this week
! We interviewed François Proulx, and talked about Poutine, a project from Boost Security, that scans code bases for vulnerable CI pipelines. If you work with GitHub actions or GitLab pipelines, it’s worth checking out! | 6 | 5 | [
{
"comment_id": "6761673",
"author": "llama-kin",
"timestamp": "2024-05-24T15:33:22",
"content": "Nice try HAD, I ain’t clicking the google phishing quiz link without verification",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "6761734",
"author": "Jack Dan... | 1,760,371,905.968867 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/05/24/console-calculator-moves-one-step-closer-to-original-design/ | Console Calculator Moves One Step Closer To Original Design | Dan Maloney | [
"Retrocomputing"
] | [
"calulator",
"console",
"gps",
"logarithm",
"nixie",
"pic",
"retrocomputing",
"Wang"
] | With smartphone apps and spreadsheets being the main ways people crunch their numbers nowadays, there’s not much call for a desktop calculator. Or any other physical calculator, for that matter. Which is all the more reason to appreciate
this Wang 300-series calculator console’s revival through a new electronic backend
.
If you haven’t made the acquaintance of the Wang calculator series, [
Bob Alexander]’s previous Wang project
is a perfect introduction. Despite looking very much like an overbuilt early-70s desktop calculator, what you see in the video below is just a terminal, one of four that could connect to a shared “Electronics Package” where most of the actual computational work was done. The package was big and is currently hard to come by, at least at a reasonable price, but the consoles, with their Nixie displays and sturdy keypads, are relatively abundant.
[Bob]’s previous venture into reviving his console involved embedding a PIC32-based controller, turning it into the standalone desktop calculator it never was. To keep more with the original design philosophy, [Bob]’s second stab at the problem moves much of the same circuitry from inside the console into a dedicated outboard package, albeit one much smaller than the original. The replacement package extends and enhances the console functionality a bit, adding a real-time clock and a Nixie exercise routine to ward off the dreaded cathode poisoning. [Bob] also recreates the original Wang logarithmic method of multiplication and division, which is a nice touch with its distinctive flashing display.
Seeing the Wang console hooked up to a package through that thick cable and Centronics connector is oddly satisfying. We’d love to see [Bob] take this to the logical extent and support multiple consoles, but that might be pushing things a bit. | 14 | 8 | [
{
"comment_id": "6761562",
"author": "Bob Alexander",
"timestamp": "2024-05-24T11:58:25",
"content": "Thanks for the write-up!",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "6761567",
"author": "IIVQ",
"timestamp": "2024-05-24T12:14:23",
"content":... | 1,760,371,906.09054 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/05/24/locate-faults-with-the-leakseeker-89r/ | Locate Faults With The Leakseeker-89R | Lewin Day | [
"Tool Hacks"
] | [
"lab equipment",
"resistance meter",
"short circuit",
"tool",
"tool hacks"
] | Have you ever needed to hunt down a short circuit, but you’ve had no idea where it is or how it’s happening? As it turns out, there are tools to help in that regard.
Enter the Leakseeker-89R.
The device is able to help hunt down short circuits that measure anywhere from 0 to 300 ohms. The device is typically used with two leads on a given pair of traces, and it has a display made up of red, yellow and green LEDs. As the leads are moved closer or farther from the short circuit, the display changes to indicate if you’re getting hotter or colder. There’s also a third lead that can be used to allow testing under more challenging conditions when there is a large capacitance in-circuit with the traces you’re testing.
Fundamentally, it’s basically a very accurate resistance meter, finely honed for the purpose of hunting down short circuits.
We’ve featured similar tools before.
They can be of great use for troubleshooting. Meanwhile, if you’re building your own test tools in your home lab, don’t hesitate to
let us know!
We’re always dying for hot tips on the best DIY lab equipment for saving time, frustration, and money. | 29 | 8 | [
{
"comment_id": "6761536",
"author": "Alandh",
"timestamp": "2024-05-24T09:45:28",
"content": "I use a thermal camera. Saved my day a few times",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "6761857",
"author": "f",
"timestamp": "2024-05-25T0... | 1,760,371,906.294944 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/05/23/lightweight-haptic-gloves-with-electro-osmotic-pump-arrays/ | Lightweight Haptic Gloves With Electro-Osmotic Pump Arrays | Lewin Day | [
"Wearable Hacks"
] | [
"electroosmotic pump",
"haptic",
"haptic glove"
] | Now that we have decent VR goggles, the world is more desperate than ever for a decent haptic interface for interacting with computers. We might be seeing a new leap forward in
this wild new haptic glove design
from the Future Interfaces Group at Carnegie Mellon University.
Feeling different surfaces in VR is possible using this technology.
The glove gives each fingertip and thumb a small haptic pad. The pads are driven by electro-osmotic pumps, which are effectively solid-state. They use electricity to move fluid to create small dimples on the pad to provide haptic feedback to the user. The pads have 20 pixels per square centimeter, are quick and responsive, and can deform up to 0.5 mm in less than half a second.
The lightweight and self-contained electro-osmotic pads mean the haptic system can be far lighter and more practical than designs that use solenoids or other traditional technologies. The device is also high resolution enough that a user can feel pressure from a surface or the edges of an object in VR. If you watch the video, some of the demonstrations are quite revolutionary.
We’ve seen some other great haptics projects before too,
like these low-cost force feedback gloves.
Video after the break.
[Thanks to Keith Olson for the tip!] | 12 | 6 | [
{
"comment_id": "6761492",
"author": "Shinsukke",
"timestamp": "2024-05-24T06:36:53",
"content": "Wow! That’s very cool! Hope they can shrink the bulky gloves into something nice and sleek.VR is pretty cool, alas i don’t own a headset, but that is partly because i haven’t found a compelling enough e... | 1,760,371,906.154649 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/05/23/roboticized-3d-printer-has-been-developing-shock-absorbing-structures-for-years/ | Roboticized 3D Printer Has Been Developing Shock Absorbing Structures For Years | Lewin Day | [
"3d Printer hacks"
] | [
"3d printing",
"robot"
] | Imagine you want to iterate on a shock-absorbing structure design in plastic. You might design something in CAD, print it, then test it on a rig. You’ll then note down your measurements, and repeat the process again. But what if a robot could do all that instead, and do it for years on end?
That’s precisely what’s been going on at Boston University.
Inside the College of Engineering, a robotic system has been working to optimize a shape to better absorb energy. The system first 3D prints a shape, and stores a record of its shape and size. The shape is then crushed with a small press while the system measures how much energy it took to compress. The crushed object is then discarded, and the robot iterates a new design and starts again.
The experiment has been going on for three years continuously at this point. The MAMA BEAR robot has tested over 25,000 3D prints, which now fill dozens of boxes. It’s not frivolous, either. According to engineer Keith Brown, the former record for a energy-absorbing structure was 71% efficiency. The robot developed a structure with 75% efficiency
in January 2023,
according to his research paper.
Who needs humans when the
robots are doing the science on their own
? Video after the break.
[Thanks to Frans for the tip!] | 14 | 8 | [
{
"comment_id": "6761445",
"author": "J",
"timestamp": "2024-05-24T02:20:41",
"content": "The machines will take over soon, if they haven’t already",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "6761457",
"author": "scott_tx",
"timestamp": "2... | 1,760,371,906.210863 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/05/23/orange-fm-brings-radio-to-the-gameboy/ | Orange FM Brings Radio To The GameBoy | Navarre Bartz | [
"Games",
"handhelds hacks",
"Radio Hacks"
] | [
"fm radio",
"game boy",
"game boy cartridge",
"game boy hacks",
"nintendo",
"Nintendo Game Boy"
] | We’ve all been there. You left your Walkman at home and only have your trusty Game Boy. You want to take a break and just listen to some tunes. What to do? [orangeglo] has the answer now with the
Orange FM cartridge
.
This prototype cart features an onboard antenna or can also use the 3.5 mm headphone/antenna port on the cartridge to boost reception with either a dedicated antenna or a set of headphones. Frequencies supported are 64 – 108 Mhz, and spacing can be set for 100 or 200 kHz to accomodate most FM broadcasts setups around the world.
Older Game Boys can support audio through the device itself, but Advances will need to use the audio port on the cartridge. The Super Game Boy can pipe audio to your TV though, which seems like a delightfully Rube Goldberg-ian way to listen to the radio. Did we mention it also supports RDS, so you’ll know what that catchy tune is? Try that FM Walkman!
Can’t decide between this and your other carts? Try this
revolving multi-cart solution
. Have a Game Boy that needs some restoration? If it’s due to electrolyte damage,
maybe start here
? | 12 | 6 | [
{
"comment_id": "6761594",
"author": "Panondorf",
"timestamp": "2024-05-24T12:49:27",
"content": "Heavy SighAll the cool radio hardware comes years after any content worth listening to.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "6762175",
"author... | 1,760,371,906.366367 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/05/23/almost-breaking-the-world-record-for-the-tiniest-humanoid-robot-but-not-quite/ | Almost Breaking The World Record For The Tiniest Humanoid Robot, But Not Quite | Lewin Day | [
"Robots Hacks"
] | [
"guinness",
"robot",
"robotics",
"tiny robots"
] | Did you know there is a Guinness World Record for the smallest humanoid robot? We didn’t either, but apparently this is a challenge attracting multiple competitors.
[Lidor Shimoni] had a red hot go at claiming the record, but came up ever so slightly short. Or tall.
The former record holder was measured at 141 mm, so [Lidor] had to beat that. He set about building a humanoid robot 95 mm tall, relying on off-the-shelf parts and 3D-printed components of his own design. An ESP32 served as the brains of the operation, while the robot, named Tiny Titan, got big flat feet to make walking relatively stable and controlled. Small servos were stacked up to actuate the legs and create a suitably humanoid robot to claim the title.
Sadly, [Lidor] was
pipped to the post
. Some procrastinating in finishing the robot and documentation saw another rival with a 60mm robot take the record. It’s not 100% clear what Guinness requires for someone to take this record, but it seems to involve a robot with arms, legs, and some ability to walk.
Sometimes robots are more fun when they’re very small
. If you’re developing your own record-breaking automatons,
drop us a line
won’t you? | 14 | 6 | [
{
"comment_id": "6761349",
"author": "Clovis Fritzen",
"timestamp": "2024-05-23T20:16:10",
"content": "60mm is hard to beat, motors, batteries and PCBs are shrinked to a point, after that you are surrended.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "6761... | 1,760,371,906.713367 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/05/23/turning-an-atx-psu-into-a-variable-bench-supply/ | Turning An ATX PSU Into A Variable Bench Supply | Lewin Day | [
"Tool Hacks"
] | [
"atx",
"ebay",
"parts",
"power supply",
"tools"
] | Bench power supplies can sometimes be frustratingly expensive and also kind of limited. If you’re enterprising and creative, though, you can create your own bench supply with tons of features, and it doesn’t have to break the bank either. Do what [Maker Y] did—
grab an ATX supply and get building!
ATX power supplies work as a great basis for a bench power supply. They have 12 volt, 3.3 volt, and 5 volt rails, and they can supply a ton of current for whatever you might need. [Maker Y] decided to break out these rails on banana plugs for ease of access, and fused them for safety, too. But the build doesn’t stop there. [Maker Y] also added a buck-boost converter to provide a variable voltage output from 1 to 30 volts for added flexibility. As a nice final touch, the rig also features a pair of USB A ports compatible with Quick Charge 3.0, for keeping smart devices charged while working in the lab.
[Caelestis Workshop] also designed a fully enclosed version if you prefer that style. Check it out on
Instructables
.
No matter which way you go, it’s a pretty simple build, with a bunch of off-the-shelf parts tossed together in a 3D printed housing. Ultimately, though, it’s got more functionality than a lot of cheap off-the-shelf bench supplies. You can build it just about anywhere on Earth where you can get
cheap eBay parts via post
. | 91 | 13 | [
{
"comment_id": "6761295",
"author": "Mike Barber",
"timestamp": "2024-05-23T18:48:45",
"content": "If anyone is going to take inspiration or instruction from this, please think twice a few times. Computer power supplies are not designed for this (mis)use. I’ve directly seen several students and col... | 1,760,371,907.06968 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/05/23/mapping-the-human-brain-and-where-this-may-lead-us/ | Mapping The Human Brain And Where This May Lead Us | Maya Posch | [
"Featured",
"Original Art",
"Science"
] | [
"neurobiology",
"neuroscience"
] | In order to understand something, it helps to observe it up close and study its inner workings. This is no less true for the brain, whether it is the brain of a mouse, that of a whale, or the squishy brain inside our own skulls. It defines after all us as a person; containing our personality and all our desires and dreams. There are also many injuries, disorders and illnesses that affect the brain, many of which we understand as poorly as the basics of how memories are stored and thoughts are formed. Much of this is due to how complicated the brain is to study in a controlled fashion.
Recently a breakthrough was made in the form of a detailed map of the cells and synapses in a segment of a human brain sample. This collaboration between Harvard and Google
resulted in the most detailed look
at human brain tissue so far, contained in a mere 1.4 petabytes of data. Far from a full brain map, this particular effort involved only a cubic millimeter of the human temporal cortex, containing 57,000 cells, 230 millimeters of blood vessels and 150 million synapses.
Ultimately the goal is to create a full map of a human brain like this, with each synapse and other structures detailed. If we can pull it off, the implications could be mind-bending.
Neurogenesis
In the beginning, there exist just a few newly formed neurons, gradually specializing from more generic cells in the developing embryo into the variety of cells that make up the human brain. Studying the development of this early state into the child and adult
connectomes
(that is, the map of neural connections in the brain) has provided us with many clues already. The term ‘connectome’ was originally coined in 2005, following the pattern of ‘genome’ at a time when researchers were busy sequencing the full human genome.
The idea is that in order to understand the brain, we must understand the network and not merely the individual neurons or functioning of individual synapses. This is similar to how our understanding of a genome relies on observing how DNA is transcribed into functional building blocks; components which ultimately result in anything from as simple as a single-celled eukaryote, to a functioning human body, or any other lifeform. By observing the way the genome is used in this context, we gain understanding of how both the genome and the cell or body it’s part of fit together.
A single neuron (white) shown with 5,600 of the axons (blue) that connect to it. The synapses that make these connections are shown in green. (Credit: Google Research & Lichtman Lab)
In the case of a connectome, we have been rather limited in our observation options, as brains do not take that kindly to being studied with e.g. a scanning electron microscope (SEM) while still inside a living body. Thus it is that most studies involve the use of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), which images brain activity over time. A
recent study
by Qiongling Li and colleagues in
Cell Reports
titled “
Development of segregation and integration of functional connectomes during the first 1,000 days”
used fMRI sets of scans on 665 infants to track the development of their functional connectivity (FC) up to the age of three years, which is when the brain’s structure has largely matured.
Using this dataset, it is possible to mark the segregation of the developing brain into distinct hubs, which form the various cortices and so on, each with distinct functionality. Local connectivity can be tracked using this method, as well as global connectivity between the separate regions, but this does not tell us how exactly the neurons are wired up, nor does it allow us to take a close look at the developing connectome, or the final result in an adult.
Adult Connectome
Six layers of excitatory neurons color-coded by depth. (Credit: Google Research and Lichtman Lab)
The brain tissue sample that was analyzed in the aforementioned collaboration study by Google Research and Harvard’s
Lichtman Lab
came from a 45-year old woman who underwent epilepsy-related surgery (surgical resection of an epileptic focus in the left medial temporal lobe). The study results are described in the
research article
(paywalled, no prepublication copy found) by Alexander Shapson-Coe and colleagues, as published in
Science
with the title “
A petavoxel fragment of human cerebral cortex reconstructed at nanoscale resolution”
. Detailed information on the materials and methods can be found in the (freely available)
supplemental material
PDF.
This 1 mm
3
sample was stained first with tetroxide-thiocarbohydrazide (TCH)-osmium, washed and then stained with 2% uranyl acetate prior to being fixed with epoxy. From this 5019 sections were cut, ranging in thickness from 30 to 33 nm, albeit with issues such as layers breaking up, blunting of the used knife and alignment issues after a knife replacement. This is presumed to have led to some loss of the tissue.
These slices were subsequently imaged with a SEM, leaving the researchers with the task to align and match the features in each layer. This process was handled mostly by machine vision and algorithms such as OpenCV’s SimpleBlobDetector, as well as proprietary Google algorithms. Convolutional neural networks (CNN) to perform tissue and neurite classification as well as myeloid body and data irregularity detection. Ultimately, after a lot more processing, the result was a viewable 3D data set with the individual elements like neurons, glial cells, blood vessels and synapses.
These datasets are
publicly available
, using the Google
Neuroglancer
web-based tool for interactive viewing. As noted by the researchers, the merging of the layers is far from perfect, and a lot more proofreading by human reviewers will be needed. Even so, it provides a fascinating glimpse at a world that’s normally impossible for us to observe so clearly.
Mapping Implications
Even in this small tissue sample, the researchers made a number of discoveries that raised questions about normal neural development. In particular, they noticed quaint characteristics, such as a few neurons that had established over 50 connections with each other, as well as knotted dendrites. These were unlike what had been documented before, which raises many questions about whether these might be indicative of some kind of developmental issue or not.
Within this small dataset it’s possible that these are features associated with epilepsy – since this sample was obtained from a person’s brain who suffered from that condition – but without obtaining more data to compare with it will be exceedingly difficult to draw any firm conclusions. This then leaves us for now with both a very exciting outlook and the gloomy realization of how hard it will be expand on this effort.
As the level of detail from this one experiment’s results show, there is a lot that we can likely learn about the brain’s structure and functioning, especially once we manage to characterize even more brain tissue, allowing us to compare and contrast between healthy individuals and those we suffered from a variety of conditions in life. Due to the scanning method used, the tissue has to be either in the form of a biopsy (as in this case), or from a post-mortem donation, which adds its own set of challenges.
The effort required in preparing just this one 1 mm
3
sample, the enormous dataset it generated, and the still imperfect post-scan processing and reassembly process poses significant hurdles. Considering that the average adult human brain has a volume of around 1200 cm
3
(1,200,000 mm
3
), the human genome sequencing project suddenly looks like an easy afternoon challenge.
That said, much like the human genome project we will likely figure out ways to optimize the brain mapping project. Once we do, we can expect a flurry of new insights on aspects about the human brain that have puzzled us for centuries, which would absolutely make it worth the trouble. | 31 | 6 | [
{
"comment_id": "6761289",
"author": "Paul",
"timestamp": "2024-05-23T18:24:26",
"content": "I’m reminded of the cruel uncle: When a child asked how a magnetic compass worked, he answered “Why don’t you take it apart and find out?”",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
... | 1,760,371,906.602069 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/05/23/grid-leak-radio-draws-the-waves/ | Grid Leak Radio Draws The Waves | Al Williams | [
"classic hacks",
"Radio Hacks"
] | [
"radio",
"vacuum tubes"
] | [Stephen McNamera] found a schematic for a grid leak radio online and decided to throw together a few tubes on a piece of wood and see how it worked.
As you can see
in the video below, it works well. The video is a bit light on details, but the web page he found the plans on also has
quite a bit of explanation
.
The name “grid leak detector” is due to the grid leak resistor between the grid and ground, in this case, a 2.7 megaohm resistor. The first tube does everything, including AM detection. The second tube is just an audio amplifier that drives the speaker. This demodulation method relies on the cathode to control grid conduction characteristics and was found in radios up to about the 1930s. The control grid performs the usual function but also acts as a diode with the cathode, providing demodulation. In a way, this is similar to a crystal radio but with an amplified tube diode instead of a crystal.
It looks like [Stephen] wound his own coil, and the variable capacitor looks suspiciously like it may have come from an old AM radio. The of the old screw terminal tube sockets on the wood board looks great. Breadboard indeed! What we didn’t see is where the 150 V plate voltage comes from. You hope there is a transformer somewhere and some filter capacitors. Or, perhaps he has a high-voltage supply on the bench.
While tubes are technologically passe, we still like them. Especially in
old radios
. Just take care around the
high voltages, please
. | 11 | 6 | [
{
"comment_id": "6761263",
"author": "ono",
"timestamp": "2024-05-23T15:49:47",
"content": "What are those nice tube sockets ?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "6761386",
"author": "RP",
"timestamp": "2024-05-23T21:25:09",
... | 1,760,371,906.648559 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/05/23/design-review-usb-c-pd-input-for-yaesu-frg7700/ | Design Review: USB-C PD Input For Yaesu FRG7700 | Arya Voronova | [
"Hackaday Columns",
"PCB Hacks",
"Skills"
] | [
"design review",
"usb c power delivery",
"USB Power Delivery",
"USB-C PD",
"usbc",
"yaesu"
] | Today is another board from a friend, [treble], who wants to convert a
Yaesu FRG7700 radio
to USB-C PD power. It’s yet another review that I’ve done privately, and then realized I’ve made more than enough changes to it, to the point that others could learn from this review quite a bit. With our hacker’s consent, I’m now sharing these things with you all, so that we can improve our boards further and further.
This board’s idea is thought-out and executed well – it replaces a bespoke barrel jack assembly, and is mechanically designed to fit the screw holes and the free space inside the chassis. For USB-PD, it uses a CH32V003 coupled with FUSB302 – I definitely
did help pick the latter!
For mechanical reasons, this board is split into two parts – one has the USB-C port, whereas the other has the MCU and the PD PHY.
In short, this board is a PD trigger. Unlike the usual PD triggers, however, this one is fully configurable, since it has a 32-bit MCU with good software support, plus, the PD PHY is also well known and easily controllable. So, if you want special behavior like charger-power-dependent profile selection for powering a static resistance load, you can implement it easily – or, say, you can do PPS for variable voltage or even lithium ion battery charging! With a bit of extra code, you could even do EPR (28 V = 140 W power) with this board, instantly making it into a pretty advanced PD trigger, beyond the ones available on the market.
Also, the board has some PCB art, and a very handy filter to get some of the USB-C charger noise out. Let’s take a look at all of these!
Current Flow Improvements
A companion board for this PCB, that hosts the vertical USB-C socket, fitting into the small gap available in the barrel jack space
First of all, the back of the PCB has art. This is a problem. Specifically, the art has to be bigger. See, fabs might struggle drawing thin silkscreen lines. So, I will take the liberty of enlarging it. This board is 25×25 mm in size, after all. Due to the way KiCad works, I’ve had to ask for the original
.svg
file from [treble] for that. Here’s a tip that I myself should follow more, if you’re adding PCB art, storing its sources alongside the board is pretty valuable for whenever it might need to be regenerated or modified!
This board is seriously nice. It has thick traces for power, and, it makes liberal use of filled zones for higher-current tracks, too! It’s not often that I see these fills used, even for higher-power areas, and truth be told, I get lazy to draw them, but they are possibly the cleanest choice for a board that fulfills a power-related purpose. Also, as usual, it’s just two layers, something dear to my heart.
Now, let’s take a good look at the two layers we have. This is a board that current is supposed to flow through, and if you have an eye for it, you might notice that it will be impeded more than you’d want it to be, in ways that are easy to fix.
Top layer
Bottom layer
Take a look at the board’s bottom layer. It has a ground plane, yes, but there are also tracks going all across it. If you try and visualize the way that ground return current could flow across the board, you might realize that it has to go through a few small slivers of copper; this is despite the ground fill being present on both sides. Let’s fix this.
Here are three spots where you could straightforwardly add ground connectivity purely by moving vias. I usually look out for such spots as part of my after-design cleanup routine – something I might spend a good half an hour on; just, idly glancing at the board in the 3D viewer, looking here and there, trying to notice any things I could improve upon. Here, if you wanted a high return on your investment, you could move these vias and gain whole two new paths for ground return current to flow through.
Moving tracks around will yield way bigger returns for freeing up some ground area. For a start, the SWIO pin, wittily wired up to an SBU pin on the USB-C connector with the trace snaking between the 2.54 mm header pads, doesn’t have to go on B.Cu at all. The VBUS connection of the FUSB302 could also be moved to the left edge, all around the 2.54 mm connector, so that it doesn’t have to cut the ground polygon in half. Furthermore, we could improve upon USB diffpair routing by rotating the CH32V003 90 degrees clockwise, and having the pairs go back onto the front layer again at the top. Part of the 3.3 V track could be routed on the top if you rotate a resistor 180 degrees, and voila, we now have a healthy and plentiful ground polygon.
“Route as much of your board on a single layer as humanly possible” is still a great guideline, and it helps here, too. It also helps if you look at your board and visualize the way that ground return current will flow, from one side to the other, all along the signals.
Only a few small details are left. The ICs don’t have decoupling caps on their 3.3 V inputs, and we could easily add them – cleaner power is always a plus. Oh, and the linear regulator could use a couple more vias from its GND pin – purely for the heat dissipation potential. There’s a 1.5 K resistor used for a USB pull-up, and I2C uses 3.3 K pullups in the same package – I’ve changed them to use 1.5 K too, just as a BOM optimization reminder; should work wonders for I2C.
Implementation Details And Polish
Something I don’t expect hackers to know but is nice to keep in mind – the VBUS pin of the FUSB302 is fault-prone and PSU noise on it can cause the FUSB to die in a way that short-circuits the 3.3 V rail, to the point that the Pinecil soldering iron
eventually disconnected it
in a new hardware revision, and the community has developed
guides to disconnect the VBUS pin.
Furthermore, the VBUS connection on the FUSB is not even needed for any part of the PD process; essentially, it’s not even a nice-to-have, all you get is an interrupt that doesn’t carry any meaning in our “bus-powered” arrangement. Let’s disconnect it – that frees up quite a bit of ground and routing space around the FUSB302.
Now, adding a 1:10 resistor divider to an ADC-capable CH32V003 pin would be worthwhile – this lets us measure the voltage we get, checking that it’s indeed the voltage we need. FUSB has provisions to measure voltage on its VBUS pin, but they’re bothersome to use, using an on-MCU ADC is way easier. I’ve also added a 3.6 V Zener diode in 0805 package, clamping the voltage that reaches the GPIO – I don’t expect it to actually be needed, but we do have space for it, and it protects the MCU’s GPIO in case of any assembly errors or voltage spikes; I have previously mis-placed a resistor at a voltage divider, and now I’m worried about others doing it. Worst case, the Zener doesn’t have to be placed at all, and you can just add a capacitor there, smoothing the divided voltage before it reaches the ADC.
What else? Here’s something to consider – the radio might not be happy with 5 volts on its power input, which is an inevitability given how the USB-C negotiation process works.
Remember, first, you get 5 V,
and then you have to negotiate further up. This is why PD trigger ICs tend have a PG pin, that you can connect to a P-FET gate, and that pin is only driven after a successful negotiation. In our case, we have MCU GPIOs we can use instead!
CH32V003 pinout diagram courtesy of
[Tengo10]’s pinout generator script
For that to work, let’s rewire the VBUS on this board. The MCU and its 3.3 V linear regulator can be powered from the raw USB-C input, we won’t gate them with the FET, of course, that’d lead to a chicken and egg problem. It makes sense to power the Pi filter through the FET, though – mostly because we have some board space between the USB-C input and the Pi filter, where a SOT-23 FET could very nicely fit. The radio could consume as much as 3 A at 12 V; at least, that’d be the maximum capability of a typical USB-C PSU you could use with this board. My FET of choice, then, is AO3401 – a classic FET that works at 30 V 4 A, and will even let this board be a pretty generic trigger board if needed, and; higher current, you can stack one more SOT23 FET on top.
With an NPN driver and a provisional 3:1 divider for the gate voltage, the “power good” circuit fits into the board space wonderfully. If it’s not needed, it can be easily jumpered with a 0 R resistor across the FET pads, but adding this circuit retrospectively would be bothersome – it helps that we have the footprints for it. Remember, traces and footprints are free to add, fundamentally – just like silkscreen markings.
How Will You Use Your Board?
Another great thing to visualize is – after you assemble your board, how will you interact with it? Here, [treble] still has to write the USB-PD firmware – in C++, no less, my MicroPython stack won’t be directly applicable, as much as I will help, but
[Ralim]’s open-source PD stack
used in the Pinecil could work wonderfully! While integrating that, she will have to debug things. Possibly, might even have to debug it some more later on, with the board installed into the radio chassis. It’s a project one hacker could pull off without a doubt, and, there’s things you could add to your board that will help.
The SWIO pin of the CH32V003 goes to an SBU pin on the USB-C socket. This is a great decision, because you can easily reflash the MCU without disassembling the entire radio – just have a USB-C plug with SBU exposed and that’s enough. Also, when I’m thinking about it, it might be troublesome during active development, because [treble] will have to constantly unplug and plug the PSU and the programming plug while debugging the in-progress firmware. Now, she could solder to the 2.54 mm pin headers, sure – alternatively, you could add an extra SWIO header at the edge and make her job a bit easier. I can’t find much space for it, sadly, so I suppose a female header with longer male pins (Arduino and Wemos shield style) can do just as well, also allowing to probe CC pins as a bonus.
I feel like there’s a good few more things you can add to improve development and usage comfort. Will there be a failure mode where the board has to signal to the user that something’s gone wrong – say, with a 5 V USB-C PSU inserted? Let’s add two LEDs on one pin – could even do WS2812 sometime later. What about I2C communications, what if tapping them would be useful during the board’s development? Let’s add a QWIIC socket and pull the I2C lines onto it – not for expansions, but rather, so that you have a socket you can easily wire up to a logic analyzer, plug it in and unplug it at any point.
There’s some arguments to be made for breaking out as many CH32V003 pins as possible. I will refrain from it, as much as it’s tempting – at this point, there isn’t a lot of board space in the spots where it matters. It would be cool to have them on testpoints though! Speaking about that, I’ve just realized – you could add a tiny SMD three-position DIP switch onto the back of the board reasonably easily, so that you can have “profiles” for the trigger board,
CH224 PD trigger board style
. I’ve found the tiniest three-position SMD DIP switch that LCSC has, then added it to the back of the board, trying to still have the ground fill as intact as possible – the idea is that this is a nice feature for whenever the board might be used as a more general-purpose trigger board. When not populated, it serves as a breakout for three ADC-capable GPIOs, GND, and 3.3 V!
Now, I’d like to emphasize: the DIP switch is not exactly necessary in this project. It falls into “something that’d be cool to fit in space left over, if the board is to be used in an entirely different setting”. Overall, I try not to push features this remote onto people while doing design review – plus, it does clash with the silkscreen. So, this addition is easily removable from the PCB files, and it doesn’t have to be populated either. Also, I’ll stop the additions here, to avoid feature creep.
That about wraps it up for things I feel like this board needs. Let’s talk about an aspect where I’d like your opinion.
Questions For The Audience
Now, here’s a question for the audience, on two things I’m not well-versed on. First one is – here’s a Pi filter. The purpose is filtering out 300 kHz USB-C charger switching frequency that [treble] has noticed being produced by a USB-C charger she’s picked. Having simulated this filter in LTSpice, it appears to be good for filtering out 200 kHz and above. Does that look correct? And, any things she should look out for when it comes to component choices?
Another question is – the ground cutout under the Pi filter. My understanding is – the more ground, all over the board, the better. [treble] decided to remove ground under the Pi filter, as far as I recall, due to a gut feeling that it’d decrease noise imposed by the inductor. Does that make sense? I’m tempted to say “no”, but I can’t formulate a good enough explanation on the specific downsides and how it might need, which is why I’m asking you.
Another board reviewed, and due to the way it’s built, I can easily imagine ordering a dozen for use in my own projects – thanks to [treble] for sharing this, and I hope this feedback helps! As usual, if you would like a design review for your board,
submit a tip
to us with [design review] in the title, linking to your board files. KiCad design files strongly preferred, both repository-stored files (GitHub/GitLab/etc) and shady Google Drive/Dropbox/etc .zip links are accepted.
I thank [Julianna] for helping me check the the CH32V003 circuit! | 21 | 9 | [
{
"comment_id": "6761261",
"author": "MacGyverS2000",
"timestamp": "2024-05-23T15:29:23",
"content": "“…ground cutout under the Pi filter…”If the inductor is shielded, it will have no practical effect upon the ground plane. Given this is a typical popcorn component (and no BOM to verify), it’s like... | 1,760,371,906.802912 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/05/23/cadmium-moves-cad-to-the-browser/ | CADmium Moves CAD To The Browser | Bryan Cockfield | [
"Software Hacks"
] | [
"browser",
"cad",
"constraint solver",
"design",
"json",
"rust"
] | For plenty of computer users, the operating system of choice is largely a middleman on the way to the browser, which hosts the tools that are most important. There are even entire operating systems with little more than browser support, under the assumption that everything will be done in the browser eventually. We may be one step closer to that type of utopia as well with
this software tool called CADmium which runs exclusively in a browser
.
As the name implies, this is a computer-aided design (CAD) package which looks to build everything one would need for designing project models in a traditional CAD program like AutoCAD or FreeCAD, but without the burden of needing to carry local files around on a specific computer. [Matt], one of the creators of this ambitious project, lays out the basic structure of a CAD program from the constraint solver, boundary representation (in this case, a modern one built in Rust), the history tracker, and various other underpinnings of a program like this. The group hopes to standardize around JSON files as well, making it easy to make changes to designs on the fly in whatever browser the user happens to have on hand.
While this project is extremely early in the design stage, it looks like they have a fairly solid framework going to get this developed. That said, they are looking for some more help getting it off the ground. If you’ve ever wanted something like this in the browser, or maybe if you’ve ever contributed to
the FreeCAD project
and have some experience, this might be worth taking a look at. | 43 | 10 | [
{
"comment_id": "6761198",
"author": "herrmannc1899gmailcom",
"timestamp": "2024-05-23T11:07:38",
"content": "OnShape",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "6761200",
"author": "Josh",
"timestamp": "2024-05-23T11:17:08",
"cont... | 1,760,371,907.162421 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/05/23/camera-lucida-drawing-better-like-its-1807/ | Camera Lucida – Drawing Better Like It’s 1807 | Navarre Bartz | [
"Art",
"hardware"
] | [
"art",
"camera lucida",
"drawing",
"lenses",
"optics",
"prism"
] | As the debate rages on about the value of AI-generated art, [Chris Borge] printed his own version of another technology that’s been the subject of debate about what constitutes real art. Meet the
camera lucida
.
Developed in the early part of the nineteenth century by [
William Hyde Wollaston
], the camera lucida is a seemingly simple device. Using a prism or a mirror and piece of glass, it allows a person to see the world overlaid onto their drawing surface. This moves details like proportions and shading directly to the paper instead of requiring an intermediary step in the artist’s memory. Of course, nothing is a substitute for practice and skill. [
Professor Pablo Garcia
] relates a story in the video about how [
Henry Fox Talbot
] was unsatisfied with his drawings made using the device, and how this experience was instrumental in his later photographic experiments.
[Borge]’s own contribution to the camera lucida is
a portable version
that you can print yourself and assemble for about $20. Featuring a snazzy case that holds all the components nice and snug on laser cut felt, he wanted a version that could go in the field and not require a table. The case also acts as a stand for the camera to sit at an appropriate height so he can sketch landscapes in his lap while out and about.
Interested in more drawing-related hacks? How about this
sand drawing bot
or some
Truly Terrible Dimensioned Drawings
? | 15 | 9 | [
{
"comment_id": "6761184",
"author": "make piece not war",
"timestamp": "2024-05-23T10:04:04",
"content": "Had access as a child to one of such devices.It didn’t improve my lack of free hand drawing skills.Yet, if you got the eye and pencil handling trained, I believe it helps a lot as you don’t nee... | 1,760,371,907.406747 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/05/22/how-to-find-replacement-parts-when-model-numbers-dont-match/ | How To Find Replacement Parts When Model Numbers Don’t Match | Donald Papp | [
"Repair Hacks"
] | [
"cracked",
"part sourcing",
"repair",
"screen",
"tv"
] | [Sharad Shankar] repaired a broken TV by swapping out the cracked and malfunctioning image panel for a new one. Now, part-swapping is a great way to repair highly integrated modern electronics like televisions, but the real value here is something else. He documented his fix but the real useful part is his observations and
guidance on how to effectively
look
for donor devices when the actual model of donor device can’t be found
.
The usual approach to fixing a device by part swapping is to get one’s hands on two exact same models that are broken in different ways. But when it comes to consumer electronics with high turnovers — like televisions — it can be very difficult to actually locate any particular model once it’s no longer on shelves. [Sharad Shankar]’s broken TV was a 65″ TCL R646 purchased in 2021, and searching for a
second
65″ TCL R646 was frankly like looking for a needle in a haystack. That’s when he got a visit from the good ideas fairy.
The first insight he had was that he didn’t actually need the exact same model of TV as a donor, he just needed the same display panel. The second insight was that TV manufacturers are absolutely using the same panels across different models of device. So he expanded his search to include
similar
TV models by the same manufacturer, hoping they contained the same display as the one he needed to replace.
Two models of TV that probably use the same display panel. (Click to enlarge)
This is more difficult than it may sound, because service manuals or similar low-level information about components in particular models of TV are not easy to find. In the end, [Sharad Shankar] did the following:
Collect all the specs for his (cracked screen) TV.
Find similar models made by the same manufacturer, preferably within a year or so.
Compare the specs and make a short list of models that have the same screen size, screen technology, and display features as the original. (Features unrelated to the display can change.)
Expand the search for a donor device to include these other potentials.
As luck would have it, he was able to locate a potential donor device on eBay thanks to his expanded search list. 75$ later, [Sharad Shankar] had the donor home and opened up to reveal some encouraging similarities between it and the broken original. A little part-swapping later, he once again had a working TV!
This method did require a bit of finger-crossing since it was impossible to be entirely certain that the parts would be compatible, but as far as calculated risks and educated guesses go, it was a solid play.
Keeping in mind that technology is designed and created by other humans and that certain things therefore are more likely than others can provide key insights when doing repair work or
reverse engineering
. Angles are usually clean divisions of 90°, and if calipers say 3.99 inches then it was probably actually designed as and intended to be 4.00 inches. And, as [Sharad Shankar] observed, consumer electronics like televisions are not completely redesigned and remanufactured from scratch with every model and release. Keep it in mind the next time you’re having trouble tracking down a part. | 24 | 11 | [
{
"comment_id": "6761141",
"author": "TooManySKUs",
"timestamp": "2024-05-23T05:17:32",
"content": "Another reason it’s often hard to find an exact model number match is because of Amazon’s policy that all sellers and suppliers, if they want their products to be prime eligible, no other online store... | 1,760,371,907.297426 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/05/22/is-this-the-worlds-smallest-multichannel-voltmeter/ | Is This The World’s Smallest Multichannel Voltmeter? | Jenny List | [
"Microcontrollers",
"Tool Hacks"
] | [
"instrument",
"measurement",
"voltmeter"
] | The instrument which probably the greatest number of Hackaday readers own is likely to be the humble digital multimeter. They’re cheap and useful, but they’re single-channel, and difficult to incorporate into a breadboard project. If you’ve ever been vexed by these limitations then [Alun Morris] has just the project for you, in
the world’s smallest auto-ranging multichannel voltmeter
. It’s a meter on a tiny PCB with a little OLED display, and as its name suggests, it can keep an eye on several voltages for you.
At its heart is an ATtiny1614 microcontroller on a custom PCB, but for us the part we most like lies not in that but in the prototype version made on a piece of protoboard. There’s considerable soldering skill in bending surface mount components to your will on this material, and though these aren’t quite the smallest parts it’s still something that must have required some work under the magnifier.
All of the code and hardware details can be found in the GitHub repository, and for your viewing pleasure there’s a video showing it in action which we’ve placed below. | 8 | 6 | [
{
"comment_id": "6761136",
"author": "Ray",
"timestamp": "2024-05-23T02:44:03",
"content": "Neat project and auto-ranging is nice. Bravo.An old Arduino atmega328P can provide 6 analog inputs directly into a PC over USB via HID (V-USB).While not a cute POLED, the terminal window can be copied to a t... | 1,760,371,907.224219 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/05/22/floss-weekly-episode-784-ill-buy-you-a-poutine/ | FLOSS Weekly Episode 784: I’ll Buy You A Poutine | Jonathan Bennett | [
"Hackaday Columns",
"Podcasts",
"Security Hacks"
] | [
"FLOSS Weekly",
"github",
"Poutine"
] | This week
Jonathan Bennett
and
Dan Lynch
talk with
François Proulx
about Poutine, the Open Source security scanner for build pipeline vulnerabilities. This class of vulnerability isn’t as well known as it should be, and threatens to steal secrets, or even allow for supply chain attacks in FLOSS software.
Poutine does a scan over an organization or individual repository, looking specifically for pipeline issues. It runs on both GitHub and GitLab, with more to come!
https://boostsecurity.io/blog/unveiling-poutine-an-open-source-build-pipelines-security-scanner
https://github.com/boostsecurityio/poutine/blob/main/README.md
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DyioLvIVur4
Did you know you can watch the live recording of the show
right in the Hackaday Discord
? Have someone you’d like use to interview? Let us know, or contact the guest and have them contact us!
Direct Download
in DRM-free MP3.
If you’d rather read along,
here’s the transcript for this week’s episode
.
Places to follow the FLOSS Weekly Podcast:
Spotify
RSS | 0 | 0 | [] | 1,760,371,907.352789 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/05/22/passive-diplexer-makes-one-antenna-act-like-two/ | Passive Diplexer Makes One Antenna Act Like Two | Dan Maloney | [
"Radio Hacks"
] | [
"amateur radio",
"APRS",
"automatic packet reporting system",
"diplexer",
"discone",
"duplexer",
"filter",
"ham",
"LoRa"
] | Stay in the amateur radio hobby long enough and you might end up with quite a collection of antennas. With privileges that almost extend from DC to daylight, one antenna will rarely do everything, and pretty soon your roof starts to get hard to see through the forest of antennas. It may be hell on curb appeal, but what’s a ham to do?
One answer could be making one antenna do the work of two, as [Guido] did with
this diplexer for dual APRS setups
. Automatic Packet Reporting System is a packet radio system used by hams to transmit telemetry and other low-bandwidth digital data. It’s most closely associated with the 2-meter ham band, but [Guido] has both 2-meter (144.8-MHz) and 70-cm LoRa (433.775-MHz) APRS IGates, or Internet gateway receivers. His goal was to use a single broadband discone antenna for both APRS receivers, and this would require sorting the proper signals from the antenna to the proper receiver with a diplexer.
Note that [Guido] refers to his design as a “duplexer,” which is a device to isolate and protect a receiver from a transmitter when they share the same antenna — very similar to a diplexer but different. His diplexer is basically a pair of filters in parallel — a high-pass filter tuned to just below the 70-cm band, and a low-pass filter tuned just above the top of the 2-m band. The filters were designed using
a handy online tool
and simulated in LTSpice, and then constructed in
classic “ugly” style
. The diplexer is all-passive and uses air-core inductors, all hand-wound and tweaked by adjusting the spacing of the turns.
[Guido]’s diplexer performs quite well — only a fraction of a dB of insertion loss, but 45 to 50 dB attenuation of unwanted frequencies — pretty impressive for a box full of caps and coils. We love these quick and dirty tactical builds, and it’s always a treat to see RF wizardry in action. | 24 | 8 | [
{
"comment_id": "6761094",
"author": "irox",
"timestamp": "2024-05-22T20:11:14",
"content": "Can somebody explain what the following means: “With privileges that almost extend from DC to daylight,”Direct Current to daylight, as in 0 Hz to 400THz?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies... | 1,760,371,907.471778 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/05/22/amber-compiles-to-bash/ | Amber Compiles To Bash | Al Williams | [
"Linux Hacks",
"Software Development"
] | [
"bash",
"Bash script"
] | It certainly isn’t a new idea to compile a language into an intermediate language. The original C++ compiler outputs C code, for example. Enhanced versions of Fortran were often just conversions of new syntax to old syntax. Of course, it makes sense to output to some language that can run on lots of different platforms. So, using that logic,
Amber
makes perfect sense. It targets — no kidding — bash. You write with nice modern syntax and compile-time checks. The output is a bash script. Admittedly, sometimes a hard-to-read bash script, but still.
If you want to see the source code, it is available on
GitHub
. Since Windows doesn’t really support bash — if you don’t count things like Cygwin and WSL — Amber only officially supports Linux and MacOS. In addition to compiling files, Amber can also execute scripts directly which can be useful for a quick one-liner. If you use Visual Studio Code, you can find a syntax highlighter extension for Amber.
To get a flavor of how it works, here’s a simple Amber file to rename some files:
let files = ["config.json", "file.txt", "audio.mp3"]
loop index, file in files {
$mv {file} {index}{file}$ failed {
echo "Failed to rename {file}"
}
}
Here’s the output shell script:
__AMBER_ARRAY_0=("config.json" "file.txt" "audio.mp3");
__0_files=("${__AMBER_ARRAY_0[@]}");
index=0;
for file in "${__0_files[@]}"
do
mv ${file} ${index}${file}
__AMBER_STATUS=$?;
if [ $__AMBER_STATUS != 0 ]; then
echo "Failed to rename ${file}"
fi
let index=${index}+1
done
Looks much easier. Still, bash isn’t that hard. If you must have bash scripts for some reason, this might be worth a look. As a general-purpose programming language, you should probably stick with something more traditional.
Catching errors early is a good thing, but there
are other ways to do that
. While you could probably use a
debugger
on the output bash code, it looks a bit hard to follow, so an Amber debugger would be welcome. | 17 | 9 | [
{
"comment_id": "6761078",
"author": "BT",
"timestamp": "2024-05-22T18:44:36",
"content": "That simple example is not going to work if any of the filenames have spaces in.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "6761083",
"author": "Al William... | 1,760,371,907.526476 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/05/22/nuclear-fusion-rd-in-2024-getting-down-to-the-gritty-details/ | Nuclear Fusion R&D In 2024: Getting Down To The Gritty Details | Maya Posch | [
"Featured",
"Original Art",
"Science"
] | [
"nuclear fusion"
] | To those who have kept tabs on nuclear fusion research the past decades beyond the articles and soundbites in news outlets, it’s probably clear just how much progress has been made, and how many challenges still remain. Yet since not that many people are into plasma physics, every measure of progress, such as most recently by the South Korean
KSTAR
(Korea Superconducting Tokamak Advanced Research) tokamak, is met generally by dismissive statements about nuclear fusion always being a certain number of decades away. Looking beyond this in coverage
such as the article
by
Science Alert
about this achievement by KSTAR we can however see quite a few of these remaining challenges being touched upon.
Recently KSTAR managed to generate 100 million degrees C plasma and maintain this for 48 seconds, a significant boost over its
previous record
from 2021 of 30 seconds, partially due to the new divertors that were installed. These divertors are essential for removing impurities from the plasma, yet much like the inner wall of the reactor vessel, these plasma-facing materials (
PFM
) bear the brunt of the super-hot plasma and any plasma instabilities, as well as the constant neutron flux from the fusion products. KSTAR now features tungsten divertors, which has become a popular material choice for this component.
Researching the optimal PFMs, as well as plasma containment modes and methods to suppress plasma instabilities are just some of the challenges that form the road still ahead before commercial fusion can commence.
High-Confinement Mode
The KSTAR fusion reactor.
The high-confinement (or
H-mode
) operating regime of tokamaks was first discovered in 1982 during experiments with the German ASDEX tokamak. H-mode differs from the retroactively named L-mode (for low-confinement) in that it features a much more stable plasma edge, due to as of yet unknown mechanisms that take effect when the plasma is heated to above a certain level.
One issue with H-mode is however the occasional edge magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) instabilities, called edge-localized modes (
ELM
). These occur as disruptions in the otherwise stable edge barrier in H-mode, forming a sudden burst of plasma that can eject up to 20% of the plasma’s energy into the nearby PFM. This causes damage to the wall and divertors in the form of erosion (ablation) and has been a major research topic for the past decades, with control methods like resonant magnetic perturbations (
RMP
) being applied as early as 2003. In 2011 KSTAR became one of the tokamaks that had managed to
successfully suppress
(Type I) ELMs using
non-axisymmetric magnetic perturbations.
Beyond causing PFM damage, these instabilities in H-mode are also problematic in that they reduce the efficiency of the reactor, due to heat and other losses that then have to be compensated for. Yet the corollary of such a stable edge in H-mode with Type I ELM suppression is that the removal of impurities and heat from the plasma becomes very difficult. This is where the much smaller, Type II ELMs are relevant, as they provide a means to transport impurities across the edge barrier without threatening the PFM.
This was simulated and experimentally tested in the ASDEX Upgrade tokamak in 2022, with the results by G.F. Harrer et al.
published
in
Physical Review Letters
. Suggested is an operating regime for ITER and similar tokamak fusion reactors in which these Type II ELMs are used as a functional feature of the plasma, whereas Type I ELMs would continue to be suppressed. As for whether RMPs are the ideal way to suppress Type I ELMs, this too remains the subject of research.
Greenwald Density
Beyond H-mode and ELMs, tokamaks also have to deal with what is named the Greenwald Density Limit (
GDL
), named after
Martin Greenwald
, whose 2002
review article
(
PDF
) in
Plasma Physics and Controlled Fusion
is worth a read for a detailed summary of the subject. The short version is that it pertains to the plasma density, with each fusion reactor having an observable lower and upper limit to this density. Once the limit is reached and exceeded in a tokamak, the reaction will transition from H- to L-mode, along with other negative effects . Of note is that the scaling of these limits seems to depend on a wide variety of factors, far beyond merely the size of the reactor, such as the fueling method.
The Greenwald limit is more easily found with stellarator fusion reactors, as these do not display the same strong negative response to exceeding this limit. Instead they show a soft limit, or quench, that sees the plasma temperature decaying. The density limit in stellarators has been found to be significantly higher (up to double) than in comparably sized tokamaks, giving the former an edge over tokamaks, as well as in terms of plasma stability. Despite this, it is thought that these limitations of tokamaks can be compensated for, with a
2024 article
by S. Ding and colleagues in
Nature
detailing a high-density, high-confinement tokamak plasma regime in the General Atomics
DIII-D
tokamak.
Can’t Rush Science
If you ask an engineer how long it’ll take to build something, they can likely give you a fairly accurate estimate, as well as an idea of the required materials and manpower. If you ask a plasma physics scientist how long it’ll take to build a nuclear fusion reactor that has an energy gain (Q) of 8 or better, they’ll likely give you a quaint look. If you’re lucky they’ll humor you and introduce you to the wonderful world of nuclear fusion related research papers, especially those pertaining to ITER-related research.
During the century
since nuclear fusion was discovered
, scientists have at some points thought that they were close to tackling nuclear fusion on Earth. The most pertinent being the Z-pinch machine during the 1950s, which was the moment when the solution seemed so close. This was also the moment when the exciting world of plasma physics began to be more fully revealed to the world of science, along with plasma instabilities, heat losses and a rush to find materials that could cope with the neutron flux and heat exposure inside the then brand new tokamak reactor design.
Would larger tokamaks work better? This was just one question of many, even as fundamental research on plasma physics continued and the tokamaks at research institutes around the world underwent one revision after another based on newly gained knowledge and new directions in research. Along the edges stellarators continued to get some love too, especially once computer simulations became powerful enough to figure out an appropriate magnetic field configuration. Much like the plasma inside these experimental fusion reactors, so too did progress keep flowing.
Although sideshows like inertial confinement fusion
keep stealing the show
despite being anything but practical for energy production, it is clear that we are lightyears beyond where we were with nuclear fusion research in the 1980s, as well as the 2000s. We cannot say yet when the moment will come when the first Q >8 fusion reactor will come online, with sustained tritium breeding and all of the other amenities that befit a commercial fusion reactor, but that’s why we are still in the research and development phase.
Maybe it will take another decade, or two. Maybe we’ll have another sad Z-pinch moment where physics throws us another curveball and we have to sigh, collect our shattered self-esteem and waddle back to the drawing board for another shot at the challenge. This is both the thrill and curse of fundamental research and development, with often massive potential rewards, and absolutely zero guarantee of reaping any of them, other than learning so incredibly much along the way. | 42 | 17 | [
{
"comment_id": "6761061",
"author": "TG",
"timestamp": "2024-05-22T17:28:48",
"content": "Can’t rush science (except during wartime)",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "6761088",
"author": "Hirudinea",
"timestamp": "2024-05-22T19:... | 1,760,371,907.613599 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/05/22/using-a-spring-as-a-capacitive-touch-button/ | Using A Spring As A Capacitive Touch Button | Maya Posch | [
"Parts"
] | [
"Capacitive Touch Sensor",
"touch sensor"
] | When [Daniel Eichhorn] designed the Pendrive S3 project, he wanted to use an off-the-shelf USB enclosure but also add a button for the user to start certain actions. Drilling a hole into the enclosure would be an option, but
decided a touch sensor on the top of the enclosure
would be much more elegant — not to mention better at keeping dirt and moisture out. To bridge the 6.3 mm spacing between the PCB and the top of the enclosure [Daniel] used a small, 7 mm PCB-mounted spring.
The spring used to create a capacitive touch sensor. (Source: JLCPCB parts)
Although capacitive sensing works with just about anything that’s electrically conductive, it’s important to get the conductive element as close to the user’s digits as possible. Using a spring here has the advantage that when the enclosure is closed up, the lid will push down onto the spring, which will not only compress slightly, but also provide the best capacitive sensing experience when e.g. the enclosure flexes or warps over time on account of always being pressed against the inside of the lid.
While hardly world-changing, this is another neat design tip when you’re looking to turn more surfaces into touch controls. Just keep in mind that capacitive sensing is notoriously fussy and any trace and spring are also excellent antennae for stray EMI. Nobody likes random capacitive button inputs, after all. | 18 | 9 | [
{
"comment_id": "6761035",
"author": "Clovis Fritzen",
"timestamp": "2024-05-22T16:03:43",
"content": "Capacitive touch for me is one of those “magic” areas within engineering. I do understand the textbook concept of it, but the practicalities are still obscure",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": ... | 1,760,371,907.667777 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/05/22/hands-on-ad409-max-microscope/ | Hands On: AD409-Max Microscope | Al Williams | [
"Reviews",
"Tool Hacks"
] | [
"andonstar",
"microscope"
] | It used to be that only the most well-equipped home electronics lab had a microscope. However, with SMD parts getting smaller and smaller, some kind of microscope is almost a necessity.
Luckily, you can get USB microscopes for a song now. If you’re willing to spend a little more, you can get even get microscopes that have little LCD screens. However, there are some problems with the cheaper end of these microscopes.
Many of them have small and wobbly stands that aren’t very practical. Some don’t leave you much room to get a soldering iron in between the lens and the part. Worse still, many cheap microscopes have trouble staying still when you have to push buttons or otherwise make adjustments to the device.
It seems like every time a new generation of microscopes aimed at the electronics market arrives on the scene, many of the earlier flaws get taken care of. That’s certainly the case with the
Andonstar AD409-Max
.
Sum of its Parts
While the microscope looks a lot like many other Andonstar microscopes and, indeed, a lot of similar devices, you’ll immediately notice the work area under the microscope is huge and covered with a silicone work mat.
We’ve put together a short video
about the microscope that you can find below, followed by the promotional video from Andonstar themselves. That video will happily point out the positive things. Of course, there are a few negatives.
An RP2040 PCB under moderate magnification
As mentioned in our video, the microscope is built solid and works very well. However, you can’t help but feel it is a hodgepodge of separate parts. The lights, for example, have their own switch. So does the endoscope. The camera itself has a WiFi hotspot (it won’t connect to your network, however). But when you load the phone app to download pictures and videos, you realize that the microscope thinks it’s a dashcam. The endoscope, with its little focus knob at the back, also seems like something of an afterthought.
These disparate parts lead to having a lot of wires. Of course you can easily 3D print some wire management clips or even use some zip ties to do it yourself. But the whole package would be a bit more impressive if the integration was better.
There are two mount points on the lens, one near each end of the lens body. We know some people like to mount at the bottom to get extra working distance, but you don’t really need to do that here. That mount is actually made for a ring light if you want to add one. The microscope might not be as stable as it will be when you use the mount closer to the electronics. However, do use one of the mounts. If you screw the ring in the middle of the lens body, you won’t be able to turn the lens to focus.
The Good News
This isn’t the end of the world, though. The images look great, and there is a ton of room between the lens and the work surface. The video mentions “nearly two feet” of room. In retrospect, it is closer to 18 inches, depending on how much magnification you want.
A ruler can help determine scale.
Still, that’s plenty of space to work on things. What’s more is that, unlike some microscopes, there is a filter protecting the lens from solder fumes and heat. That and the silicone mat make it clear the microscope was made for soldering.
The lights are very bright. In fact, if you get what you want out of the light, it becomes very difficult to see. Unlike a ring light, you can adjust the gooseneck lamps to get just the right angle on whatever you need to see.
The microscope is well-packed and has a reasonable manual that seems mostly correct. There are several attachments for the endoscope, ranging from a short plastic tube to a little mirror for looking under things. If the screen is too small, you can always connect an HDMI monitor. All the required cables come in the box along with a USB power adapter.
Putting it to Work
There are less expensive alternatives out there. You could, of course, add a larger base to a cheaper unit. You may not really need the endoscope, the helping hands, and the tool holder. But if you don’t mind the roughly $450 price tag, this is a very serviceable soldering and inspection microscope.
Most of the issues are minor, like the cable management. For another example, despite the manual saying you can save default settings, it doesn’t seem to work. It would be nice if you could hot-swap the memory card, but you can’t. WiFi is a nice thought, but having to disconnect from your normal WiFi to connect to the microscope isn’t that convenient.
If only you could use this microscope for the Hackaday SMD Challenge!
But for the main features, it works well. Sure, some people really like a binocular microscope. They, like anything else, have plusses and minuses, too. Do you have a favorite microscope or other magnifying device for soldering? Or are you lucky enough to have eagle-eye vision? If you do, just wait… you’ll see. Parts are getting smaller every year and your eyes seem to get worse every year, too.
The video below shows a little bit of soldering of the SMD challenge board that we use every year at Supercon. Having a microscope is, of course, cheating, but at least we didn’t use a nice soldering iron just to be a little fair to everyone who’s had to use our terrible setup in the past.
You could mount a commercial ring light on the lower lens mount, or why not
roll your own
? You might not need as many upgrades for this rig as you would for
a cheaper microscope
. | 18 | 5 | [
{
"comment_id": "6761033",
"author": "MmmDee",
"timestamp": "2024-05-22T15:59:27",
"content": "The linked manufacturer refers to this product as including an endoscope. When exactly did the word “endoscope” get coopted by the electronics industry? I recall these camera-on-a-cord devices as fiber-sco... | 1,760,371,907.734144 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/05/22/90s-powerbook-runs-macos-monterey/ | 90s PowerBook Runs MacOS Monterey | Bryan Cockfield | [
"Retrocomputing"
] | [
"apple",
"ipad",
"macbook",
"macbook pro",
"macOS",
"Powerbook",
"retina",
"Teensy"
] | Even though Apple isn’t known for making the most pro-consumer devices ever (at least not since the Apple II), the trope that Apples aren’t upgradable, customizable, or otherwise hackable doesn’t really hold much weight. It does take more work to modify them or change how Apple wants them to behave, but it’s not completely impossible. Take
this example of a ’94 Apple PowerBook which runs macOS Moneterey
thanks largely to new internals from a 2015 MacBook Pro.
[Billy] originally intended for a Raspberry Pi to go inside this old PowerBook, but at the time, prices for ARM single-board computer (SBC) were astronomical. For around the same price as the Pi was at the time, he was able to pick up a retina display from an iPad and the internals from a broken MacBook Pro to outfit this retro case. There’s also a Teensy installed to get the trackpad working and a driver board for the display from Adafruit, and a number of case mods were needed to get everything to fit including the screen which was slightly larger than the original 9.5″ display the laptop would have shipped with.
This project took both inspiration and some of the actual code needed to get everything working from another project we featured a while ago
where a Mac Mini was installed inside of a PowerBook case from 1993
. Unlike projects that use smaller SBCs for retrocomputing, these builds are notable because the hardware on the inside makes them usable as daily driver computers even today, and might even be an upgrade if you’re using the internals from a MacBook Pro that would have originally had a butterfly keyboard. | 12 | 5 | [
{
"comment_id": "6760991",
"author": "clind",
"timestamp": "2024-05-22T12:48:59",
"content": "Nice stuff I’d like to see, just out of nostalgia a clamshell retrofit althoigh the massive bezel would not make it a Smart choice for a daily driver.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies":... | 1,760,371,907.787901 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/05/22/filming-the-eclipse-from-80000-feet/ | Filming The Eclipse From 80,000 Feet | Lewin Day | [
"Science"
] | [
"balloon",
"earth",
"eclipse",
"solar",
"solar eclipse",
"sun"
] | Watching an eclipse from the ground is pretty fun. Depending on where you live, you might even get a decent view. But what if you wanted a truly unique vantage point? You could replicate the work of [Tarik Agcayazi] and [kemfic],
who set about filming the recent eclipse from an altitude of 80,000 feet.
That’s what the eclipse looks like from 80,000 feet.
The duo didn’t rent a high-performance aircraft from the US military. Instead, they relied on a high-altitude balloon carrying a glider with a camera payload. The idea was for the balloon to go up, and have the camera capture the eclipse. Then, it would be released so that it could glide back home in controlled flight. However, time constraints made that too hard. Instead, they simplified to a parachute recovery method.
The
project video
covers the development process, the balloon launch itself, and of course, the filming of the eclipse. High altitude balloon launches are stressful enough, but having a short eclipse as a target made everything even more difficult. But that just makes things more exciting!
The project builds on earlier work from the duo that we discussed
back in 2017. | 4 | 4 | [
{
"comment_id": "6760968",
"author": "dcli",
"timestamp": "2024-05-22T10:28:26",
"content": ">tech bros from the bay go to midwest>litter in national forest",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "6760975",
"author": "Cheese Whiz",
"timestamp": ... | 1,760,371,907.952114 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/05/21/mechanical-7-segment-display-looks-clean/ | Mechanical 7-Segment Display Looks Clean | Lewin Day | [
"hardware",
"Microcontrollers"
] | [
"7-segment display",
"mechanical",
"subscribers"
] | [Jens] wanted a subscriber counter for his YouTube channel. He could have gone with a simple OLED, LCD, or LED display, but he wanted something more tactile and interesting. So he
built a mechanical 7-segment display instead
!
Currently, [Jens]’s channel is in the four-digit subscriber range, so he planned to build a four-digit display. He started by searching for existing projects in this space, and came across the designs of [shiura]
on Thingiverse.
[shiura] had a 3D printed cam-driven 7-segment digit that runs on a single servo motor. Once armed with four of the digits, he hooked them up to a Pi Pico W to drive them all with four servo outputs. The Pico W is responsible for querying the channel subscriber count online, and updating the display in turn.
It’s a neat build, and [Jens] learned some things along the way—like how Super Lube seemed to ruin filament for him. Ultimately, the build came good, and it looks great. We’ve seen
some other mechanical 7-segment builds before, too! | 3 | 3 | [
{
"comment_id": "6760964",
"author": "Jens Maker Adventures",
"timestamp": "2024-05-22T09:54:11",
"content": "Well written article, thanks for posting! :)",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "6761275",
"author": "Dude",
"timestamp": "2024-05-... | 1,760,371,908.054021 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/05/21/industrial-solar-heat-hits-1000%cb%9ac/ | Industrial Solar Heat Hits 1000˚C | Navarre Bartz | [
"green hacks",
"Solar Hacks"
] | [
"concentrated solar",
"metal casting",
"Quartz",
"smelting",
"solar",
"solar energy",
"solar thermal"
] | While electricity generation has been the star of the energy transition show, about half of the world’s energy consumption is to make heat. Many industrial processes rely on fossil fuels to reach high temps right now, but researchers at ETH Zurich have found a new way to crank up the heat with a
solar thermal trap
. [via
SciTechDaily
]
Heating water for showers or radiant floor systems in homes is old hat now, but industrial application of solar power has been few and far between. Part of the issue has been achieving high enough temperatures. Opaque absorbers can only ever get as hot as the incident surface where the sun hits them, but some translucent materials, like quartz can form thermal traps.
In a thermal trap, “it is possible to achieve temperatures that are higher in the bulk of the material than at the surface exposed to solar radiation.” In the study, the researchers were able to get a 450˚C surface to produce 1,050˚C interior temperature in the 300 mm long quartz rod. The system does rely on concentrated solar power, 135 suns-worth for this study, but mirror and lens systems for solar concentration already exist due to the
aforementioned electrical power generation
.
This isn’t the only time we’ve seen someone
smelting on sunlight alone
, and you can always do it less directly by using a
hydrogen intermediary
. If you’re wanting a more domestic-level of heat,
why not try the wind
if the sun doesn’t shine much in your neighborhood? | 17 | 4 | [
{
"comment_id": "6760936",
"author": "Dude",
"timestamp": "2024-05-22T06:08:52",
"content": "One of the problems with concentrated solar power is the inconsistent heat input, and what that does to the generator system. Plants like the Ivanpah Solar Power Facility under-performed badly because it tak... | 1,760,371,908.316076 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/05/21/ribbon-cable-repair-saves-touch-id/ | Ribbon Cable Repair Saves Touch ID | Lewin Day | [
"Repair Hacks"
] | [
"repair",
"ribbon cable",
"touch id"
] | Some might consider a broken ribbon cable to be unsalvagable. They’re delicate and fragile as can be, and sometimes just fussing with them further is enough to cause additional damage. However, with the right set of skills, it’s sometimes possible to achieve the unthinkable.
As [Master Liu] demonstrates
, you can indeed repair a broken ribbon cable, even a tiny one.
The video concerns a ribbon cable linked to a Touch ID fingerprint sensor from an Apple device. It’s common to break these ribbon cables when repairing a phone, and doing so causes major problems. The Touch ID device is paired with the host phone, and cannot easily be replaced. Thus, repair is justified if at all possible.
The repair involves scraping back the outer coating on the two sections of ribbon cable to reveal the copper pads underneath. The copper is then coated with flux and solder to prepare them to be rejoined. Ultra-fine strands of wire are used to join the individual traces. Then, the repaired section is coated in some kind of sealant or epoxy to hold the joint together and protect it from failing again. The theory is easy, it’s just the execution that’s hard.
Ribbon cable repair is becoming one of our favorite topics of late
. Sometimes you just need a steady hand and the guts to have a go. Video after the break. | 14 | 7 | [
{
"comment_id": "6760897",
"author": "Victor Balogh",
"timestamp": "2024-05-22T01:08:30",
"content": "For those that have the steady hand and patients I commend you. Now as I get older many projects I wont take on, mind you there are many where it is easy to tear a cable in repairs. Or the warning... | 1,760,371,908.104643 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/05/21/home-automation-terminal-has-great-post-apocalyptic-look/ | Home Automation Terminal Has Great Post-Apocalyptic Look | Lewin Day | [
"Raspberry Pi"
] | [
"Fallout",
"home-assistant",
"pip-boy",
"terminal"
] | If you use home automation these days, you’re probably used to using smart speakers, your smartphone, or those tabletop touchscreen devices. If you wanted something cooler and more personal,
you could try building something like [Rick] did.
A Raspberry Pi 400 is the basis for the machine, and it still uses the original keyboard. It’s paired with a 3D-printed shell with a 7″ Waveshare HDMI touch display in it. The LCD is placed behind a Fresnel lens which provides some magnification. It displays a glowing blue command line which accepts text commands. It’s hooked up to the OpenAI API, so it’s a little smarter than just any old regular terminal. It’s hooked up to [Rick’s] home automation system, so he can use natural language queries to control lighting, music, and all the rest. Think Alexa or Siri, but in text form.
The design of the case, with its rounded edges, vents, and thick bezels gives it a strong retro-futuristic look, reminiscent of something out of
Fallout.
[Rick’s] neat application of weathering techniques helped a lot, too.
It reminds us of some of the cooler
Pip Boy builds
we’ve seen. Meanwhile, if you’ve got your own creative terminal build in the works, don’t hesitate to
drop us a line! | 18 | 8 | [
{
"comment_id": "6760849",
"author": "rclark",
"timestamp": "2024-05-21T20:29:42",
"content": "“If you use home automation these days, you’re probably used to using smart speakers, your smartphone, or those tabletop touchscreen devices.” Well I am not one of ‘those’ people. No ‘smart’ devices (as... | 1,760,371,908.490953 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/05/21/tabletop-handybot-is-handy-and-powered-by-ai/ | Tabletop Handybot Is Handy, And Powered By AI | Lewin Day | [
"Machine Learning",
"Robots Hacks"
] | [
"ai",
"machine learning",
"MARKERS",
"robot",
"robot arm",
"robotic arm"
] | Decently useful AI has been around for a little while now, and robotic arms have been around much longer. Yet somehow, we don’t have little robot helpers on our desks yet! Thankfully,
[Yifei] is working towards that reality with Tabletop Handybot.
What [Yifei] has developed is a robotic arm that accepts voice commands. The robot relies on a Realsense D435 RGB-D camera, which provides color vision with depth information as well. Grounding DINO is used for object detection on the RGB images. Segment Anything and Open3D are used for further processing of the visual and depth data to help the robot understand what it’s looking at. Meanwhile, voice commands are interpreted via OpenAI Whisper, which can feed prompts to ChatGPT for further processing.
[Yifei] demonstrates his robot picking up markers on command, which is a pretty cool demo. With so many modern AI tools available, we’re getting closer to the ideal of robots that can understand and execute on general spoken instructions. This is a great example. We may not be all the way there yet,
but perhaps soon.
Video after the break. | 15 | 6 | [
{
"comment_id": "6760834",
"author": "DougM",
"timestamp": "2024-05-21T18:49:06",
"content": "call me when it can sort screws :-)",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "6760836",
"author": "Cyna",
"timestamp": "2024-05-21T19:22:36",
"conten... | 1,760,371,908.258359 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/05/21/linux-fu-the-root-cause/ | Linux Fu: The Root Cause | Al Williams | [
"Linux Hacks"
] | [
"linux",
"sudo"
] | There was a time when real system administrators just logged into Unix systems as root. But as we all know — with great power comes great responsibility. It’s too easy to do terrible things when you are really just trying to do normal work, and, on top of that, malicious software or scripts can do naughty things without you noticing. So common practice quickly changed to where an administrator had a personal account but then had a way to run certain programs “as root” which means you had to deliberately decide to wield your power.
Before long, people realized you don’t even need a root login account. That way, an attacker can’t try to log into root at all. Sure, they could still compromise your account, but a random hacker knows you might have a root user, but it is harder to guess that your login ID is JTKirkJr or whatever.
There are other ways to control what users can do, but many Linux and Unix installations still use this model. The root can do everything but login, and specific users get the privilege to do certain things.
sudo
XKCD #149
(
CC by SA 2.5
)
In the Linux world,
sudo
is very common. It is a bit difficult to setup, but once configured, it is simple enough from a user’s point of view. If you want to, say, copy a file to a system directory, you prefix the command with
sudo
:
sudo cp x.txt /usr/share/wherever
The
sudo
program will validate your password (not the root password) or otherwise log you in (e.g., using a camera or smart key or whatever you have set up for PAM). Once you validate, you will stay validated for a short period of time so you don’t have to log in every time, although the time period is adjustable and can be turned off.
Where this is not simple is when you want to use redirection. For example, a common mistake is to write:
sudo echo y >/sys/option/made-up-option
This fails because
sudo
only runs
echo
as root. Your shell, the program that is interpreting the redirect, is still just you, and you can’t write to the
/sys/option
directory. There are many workarounds for this. For example:
echo y | sudo tee /sys/option/made-up-option
There are a few options to sudo that you don’t often use, but probably should:
-l — List. Shows what you can do
-v — Validate. This refreshes the expiration time without running a command.
-k — Kill. Ends the validation period now, so you’ll have to authenticate again when you use sudo.
-u — User. Normally root, but you can impersonate other users with this option.
-i — Interactive. Run a shell as though you’ve logged in as the user.
-e — Edit. Edit a file as the specified user.
-g — Group. Run as a group.
Configuration is a bit tricky. Also, if you screw it up too badly, you could prevent yourself from running root commands which is disastrous. Because of that, you shouldn’t edit the
/etc/sudoers
file directly. Instead, you should use
visudo
, which checks for sanity before overwriting your original file.
It isn’t a bad idea to open a root shell (
sudo -i
) before you make any changes in another shell. You can also make a backup of
sudoers
until you are sure your changes work.
Infrequently, you’ll want to change
/etc/sudo.conf
, which allows plugins to change how sudo works. But, usually, the default with your distribution is what you want, and all the changes you’d like to make are in
/etc/sudoers
.
The
sudoers
file has a series of sections, many that set options or aliases. The lines you are mostly interested in look like this:
JTKirkJr ALL = (root) /usr/bin/ls
This means that the user JTKirkJr on any host (ALL) can run
/usr/bin/ls
as the root user. One way to think of the structure is:
<who> <where> = <as_user[:as_group]><program...>
Sometimes, you want the “who” part to be a group. That’s easy:
%sudo ALL=(ALL:ALL) ALL
That means that anyone in the sudo group on any host can impersonate any user or any group for all commands. Easy! Sometimes, you want to run a trusted program as root without authenticating. This is very dangerous, so think hard before you do something like this:
JTKirtJr ALL=(root) NOPASSWD: /usr/bin/smidump
You may be able to add fragments to files inside
/etc/sudoers.d
, depending on your distribution. You can find the entire manual for
sudo
online
.
XKCD #838
(
CC by SA 2.5
)
If you try to do something you are not approved for, the “incident is reported.” Contrary to popular belief, the alert doesn’t go to the North Pole, but it is logged in
/var/log/auth.log
.
su
Historically, many people used
su
(which may mean substitute user, switch user, or super user) to gain a shell as another user (including root). That works, but it doesn’t have nearly as much control as
sudo
. You get a shell, or you don’t. And if you do, you can do everything.
One difference between
su
and
sudo
is that
sudo
wants your password. The
su
command wants the password for the user you want to be.
run0/systemd-run
Of course, systemd wants to achieve world domination, so it has a way to do the same thing. Originally called
systemd-run
and, as of, systemd v256, invokable as
run0
to save a little typing and to set some default options to make it work more like
sudo
. However, internally, it is different and leverages things like polkit and systemd, of course.
pkexec
Speaking of polkit, it also has a way — rarely used — to do a similar job. The
pkexec
command lets you execute code as another user. As with all of these programs, there is a danger that allowing users to run programs as other users can open up security holes. Of course, you configuration is one source of these vulnerabilities, but in some cases, bugs in the program can
create serious security holes
.
The main use of
pkexec
is to allow certain GUI programs to gain higher privileges when needed. Before that,
kdesu
and
gksu
however, you may find these programs still in use on older systems. There are also sudo wrappers like
kdesudo
. You don’t see any of these in most newer distributions, though.
doas
If you don’t like
sudo
‘s configuration file, you might want to borrow a program from FreeBSD called
doas
. It also has a configuration file, but it is much easier to work with. The file to set up is
/etc/doas.conf
. Some distributions include
vidoas
to help with the editing.
The rule format is simple. Lines start with permit or deny, depending on what you want to accomplish. Then, you can name a user or group (with a colon prefix). You can add an “as” clause to specify a target user and a cmd keyword to specify a specific command.
For example, to let anyone in the sudo group do anything:
permit :sudo
That’s it. You can use options like nopass, persist, and others to manipulate the environment. So to get the persistent password, you might prefer to write
permit persist :sudo as root
Rooting it Out
You should be very careful changing anything related to how normal users can run programs as root. The potential for bad behavior is high. However, you do have to have something. Since
run0
isn’t really widely available yet, we aren’t sure how useful it will be. We rarely see
pkexec
in the wild. While
sudo
is fantastically flexible, we do appreciate the simplicity of
doas
.
Ultimately, they all do the same job. As usual with Linux, the choice is yours. | 22 | 14 | [
{
"comment_id": "6760808",
"author": "Greg A",
"timestamp": "2024-05-21T17:42:17",
"content": "i am still happy with su and sudo. i don’t really believe the ‘safety’ of sudo’s limitations is more than an illusion but sometimes it’s the convenient tool anyways.but recently i ran into capabilities. ... | 1,760,371,908.383416 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/05/21/this-midi-boombox-takes-floppies/ | This MIDI BoomBox Takes Floppies | Al Williams | [
"Musical Hacks"
] | [
"floppy disk",
"midi"
] | You might have had a boombox back in the 1990s, but probably not like the Yamaha MDP-10. As [Nicole] explains, the odd little device
played MIDI files from a floppy disk
. Technically, it wasn’t truly a boombox because it lacked batteries, but it sure looks like one.
The box also had a MIDI input jack, but no output. For an antique gadget, it is pretty impressive, but maybe not much by today’s standards. Of course, what we really wanted to see was what was inside. [Nicole] doesn’t disappoint.
The boombox brains are a pair of Hitachi H8 3000-series CPUs. The boards actually looks surprisingly modern until you notice the lack of integration. There are separate ROMs, RAMs, a floppy drive controller, and, of course, MIDI chips. Apparently, opening the box up is a challenge so [Nicole] suggests not doing it unless necessary. We assume it went back together with no problems.
There are lots of tidbits about peculiarities in the device. There are also, of course, recordings of the output and some comparisons from other devices. A great look into an old and odd piece of gear.
Since it has an input jack, you could connect it to — oh, we don’t know — maybe
some spoons
? Or a
hurdy-gurdy
. | 11 | 7 | [
{
"comment_id": "6760768",
"author": "Mojo",
"timestamp": "2024-05-21T15:59:44",
"content": "Sounds like the Roland MT80. SC-55 was the rack version and sadly, mine recently died.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "6760788",
"author": "Di... | 1,760,371,908.42896 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/05/21/peeking-underground-with-giant-flying-antennas/ | Peeking Underground With Giant Flying Antennas | Lewin Day | [
"Science"
] | [
"aerial",
"electromagnetic survey",
"geology",
"geomagnetic",
"geomagnetic survey",
"helicopter",
"usgs"
] | Helicopters are perhaps at their coolest when they’re being used as flying cranes — from a long dangling cable, they can carry everything from cars, to crates, to giant hanging saws.
What you might find altogether more curious are the helicopters that fly around carrying gigantic flat antenna arrays. When you spot one in the field, it’s not exactly intuitive to figure out what they’re doing, but these helicopters are tasked with important geological work!
Looking Down From Above
The SkyTEM survey system is one of the most well known in the AEM space. Credit:
Geoscience Australia
In the popular imagination, the Earth’s magnetic field is useful for finding north with a compass. In day to day life, that barely comes up, and we don’t give the magnetic field much thought beyond that. However, the reality of Earth’s magnetic field is that it is variable all over the surface of our planet. By measuring it, we can gain great insight into what lies beneath our feet.
Magnetic surveys are an important tool in geology and archaeology. In the latter regard, they were perhaps best popularized by the TV show
Time Team.
The series would often employ geomagnetic surveys to discover artifacts or structures beneath the ground. The typical technique used on the show involved someone walking around a site with a magnetometer while logging the magnetic field strength as they went. By running the magnetometer in a grid pattern across a site, it was possible to build up a local map of the magnetic field, which could reveal anomalies lurking underground.
That’s all well and good if you wish to survey a small garden or perhaps a single field. If you want to survey a larger area, though, doing a survey on foot isn’t really practical. But you can apply the same techniques in the air at speed, and you can even extend them further, too!
You can do magnetic surveys much faster using a helicopter instead. The basic theory is the same, carrying a magnetic sensor over terrain allows the measurement of the local magnetic field. The difference is that a helicopter can move much faster and thus cover a greater area more quickly, albeit at somewhat reduced resolution. Magnetic field data is great, but there’s so much more that can be gained by exploring the electromagnetic spectrum, too.
A typical setup for helicopter-based geomagnetic surveys. To work at low frequencies, large antennas are needed. This rig transmits at a base frequency of just 25 Hz. Credit:
Geoscience Australia Operations & Processing report
By transmitting radio waves from a giant antenna, it’s possible to excite eddy currents in the ground itself which can then be picked up by a sensitive receiver similarly dangling from the aircraft. A single aerial survey aircraft can carry both magnetic sensors and EM equipment on the same mission to gather both kinds of data at once.
Aerial electromagnetic surveys (AEM), as they are known, aren’t so much used for finding Roman coins or small structures under the ground. Instead, they’re used to better understand the makeup of the ground itself. An aerial survey can reveal electrically conductive materials in the ground, of which there are many.
Graphite, clays, sulfides, or salty groundwater all show up differently on an electromagnetic survey compared to non-conductive minerals or fresh water. These elements can be revealed by an antenna dangling from a helicopter, in combination with other geological data and careful analysis.
The Yarrabubba impact structure is the oldest known planetary impact structure on Earth. While much of the original crater has been eroded, the impact has left an anomaly that is readily visible on aeromagnetic surveys to this day. Credit:
Erickson, Kirkland, Timms, Cavosie & Davison, CC-BY 4.0
Typical AEM missions involve flying at moderate speeds of 70 to 120 km/h along the ground, generally on a path of parallel lines to cover a given area. Altitudes are low, on the order of 100 meters or even less, to keep the antennas close to the ground. Excitation and receiver antennas usually measure tens of meters in diameter. AEM surveys can be remarkably sensitive. It’s possible to pick up variations in the conductivity of the soil up to several hundred meters deep with the right equipment. As you might expect, the local ground composition plays a role in what’s possible, too.
Often, an aerial study is designed to zero in on a particular geological feature or material of interest. Then, the survey area and equipment can be tuned to ideally reveal the expected contrast in conductivity or magnetic field.
Governments and private enterprises using the technique more commonly than you might think. For example, the California Department of Water Resources uses AEM surveys
to hunt for underground aquifers
. The US Geological Survey uses the technique for all kinds of purposes, and has been doing so since the 1970s. It has looked for subsurface water and underground minerals, amongst other things. There’s
an interactive tool
for finding survey data, much of which is available to the public.
There is a great deal of mistrust in the wider public these days, with conspiracies around chemtrails, 5G cellular networks, and so many other similar topics. It won’t shock you to know that there are people that freak out when they see a helicopter hauling a gigantic antenna array at low altitude.
A conductivity survey reveals groundwater beneath the surface at Mt Saint Helens. Credit:
USGS
For this reason, many government agencies
specifically release documents
to explain the purpose of AEM surveys, and to highlight that they pose no risk to the public, wildlife, or the natural environment itself. It may seem silly, but AEM survey craft do look a fair bit more sci-fi than most other flying vehicles, so the cautious approach is understandable.
You probably won’t spot an AEM survey craft in the suburbs, but if you’re out in some wide open natural area, you just might. If you’re
really
keen on seeing one in the flesh, though, you’re best advised to get yourself a geology degree and a job in the field. Then, you might even pick up the skills necessary to specify, execute, and interpret the results of an electromagnetic aerial survey. When you do, be sure to let the world know what you found out! | 21 | 9 | [
{
"comment_id": "6760750",
"author": "Ostracus",
"timestamp": "2024-05-21T14:36:00",
"content": "“If you want to survey a larger area, though, doing a survey on foot isn’t really practical. ”Makes the surveying of America all the more amazing.” It won’t shock you to know that there are people that f... | 1,760,371,908.620114 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/05/21/static-recompilation-brings-new-life-to-n64-games/ | Static Recompilation Brings New Life To N64 Games | Maya Posch | [
"Games",
"Reverse Engineering",
"Software Development"
] | [
"binary translation",
"nintendo 64",
"static recompilation"
] | Over the past few years a number of teams have been putting a lot of effort into taking beloved Nintendo 64 games, decompiling them, and lovingly crafting them into highly portable C code. This allows for these games to not only run natively on PCs, but also for improvements to be made to the rendering engine and other components.
Yet this artisan approach to porting these games means a massive time investment, something which static binary translation (static recompilation) may conceivably speed up. Enter the
N64: Recompiled project
, which provides a binary translation tool to ease the translation of the N64’s binaries into C code.
This is effectively quite similar to what an emulator does in real-time, just with the goal of creating a permanent copy of the translated instructions. After this static binary translation, the C code can be compiled again, but as noted by the project’s documentation, a suitable runtime is needed to get a functional game. An example of this is the
Zelda 64: Recompiled
project, which uses the N64: Recompiled project at its core, while providing the necessary scaffolding and wrappers to create a working copy of
The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask
as output.
In the video below,
[Modern Vintage Gamer] takes the software for a test drive
and comes away very excited about the potential it has to completely change the state of N64 emulation. To be clear, this isn’t a one-button-press solution — it still requires capable developers to roll up their sleeves and get the plumbing in. It’s going to take some time before you favorite game is supported, but the idea of breathing new life into some of the best games from the 1990s and early 2000s certainly has us eager to see where this technology goes
Thanks to [Keith Olson] for the tip. | 19 | 4 | [
{
"comment_id": "6760680",
"author": "Cheese Whiz",
"timestamp": "2024-05-21T11:23:32",
"content": "In before Nintendo sends the C&D.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "6760692",
"author": "The Commenter Formerly Known As Ren",
"t... | 1,760,371,908.54935 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/05/21/quad-motor-electric-kart-gets-a-little-too-thrilling/ | Quad-Motor Electric Kart Gets A LittleTooThrilling | Donald Papp | [
"Transportation Hacks"
] | [
"electric",
"go-kart",
"hub motor",
"kart",
"racing"
] | [Peter Holderith] has been on a mission to unlock the full potential of a DIY quad-motor electric go-kart as a platform. This isn’t his first rodeo, either. His earlier vehicle designs were great educational fun, but were limited to about a kilowatt of power. His current platform is in theory capable of about
twenty
. The last big change he made was adding considerably more battery power, so that the under-used motors could stretch their legs a little, figuratively speaking.
How did that go? [Peter] puts it like this: “
the result of [that] extra power, combined with other design flaws, is terror
.” Don’t worry, no one’s been hurt or anything, but the kart did break in a few ways that highlighted some problems.
The keyed stainless steel bracket didn’t stay keyed for long.
One purpose of incremental prototyping is to bring problems to the surface, and it certainly did that. A number of design decisions that were fine on smaller karts showed themselves to be inadequate once the motors had more power.
For one thing, the increased torque meant the motors twisted themselves free from their mountings. The throttle revealed itself to be twitchy with a poor response, and steering didn’t feel very good. The steering got heavier as speed increased, but it also wanted to jerk all over the place. These are profoundly unwelcome feelings when driving a small and powerful vehicle that lurches into motion as soon as the accelerator is pressed.
Overall, one could say the experience populated the proverbial to-do list quite well.
The earlier incarnation of [Peter]’s kart
was a thrilling ride, but the challenge of maintaining adequate control over a moving platform serves as a reminder that design decisions that do the job under one circumstance might need revisiting in others. | 39 | 13 | [
{
"comment_id": "6760645",
"author": "biuro",
"timestamp": "2024-05-21T08:32:17",
"content": "As it turns out, you can’t just ghetto-slap together some CNC’d parts (sponsored project!) and expect them to work at anything beyond walking speed. Maybe next time study some fundamentals of mechanical eng... | 1,760,371,908.742554 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/05/20/home-assistant-display-uses-e-ink/ | Home Assistant Display Uses E-Ink | Al Williams | [
"home hacks"
] | [
"eink",
"home automation"
] | [Markus] grabbed an ESP32 and created a
good-looking e-ink dashboard
that can act as a status display for Home Automation. However, the hardware is generic enough that it could work as a weather station or even a task scheduler.
The project makes good use of modules, so there isn’t much to build. A Waveshare 2.9-inch e-ink panel and an ESP32, along with a power supply, are all you need. The real work is in the
software
. Of course, you also need a box to put it in, but with 3D printing, that’s hardly a problem.
Well, it isn’t a problem unless — like [Markus] — you don’t have a 3D printer. Instead, he built a wooden case that also holds notepaper.
The software uses ESPHome to interface with Home Assistant. There is a fair amount of configuration, but nothing too difficult. Of course, you can customize the display to your heart’s content. Overall, this is a great example of how a few modular components and some open-source software can combine to make a very simple yet useful project.
There are many ways to use an
ESP32 in your home automation setup
. Maybe you can
salvage the e-ink displays
. Just try not to
get carried away
. | 2 | 2 | [
{
"comment_id": "6772745",
"author": "Timeline",
"timestamp": "2024-07-03T00:14:36",
"content": "Curious how this has been running now that it has been over a month. Two things in this article popped out at me with what I know about these smaller Waveshare ePaper displays. One is that they should no... | 1,760,371,908.66254 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/05/20/pi-pico-helps-restring-badminton-rackets/ | Pi Pico Helps Restring Badminton Rackets | Lewin Day | [
"Raspberry Pi"
] | [
"badminton",
"racquet",
"stepper motor",
"stringing",
"stringing machine"
] | Stringing a badminton racquet is a somewhat complicated job. It needs to be done well if the racquet is to perform well and the player is to succeed. To that end,
[kuokuo] built a machine of their own to do that very task.
Even better, they’ve made it open source so other hobbyists can benefit from their work.
The build is named PicoBETH, which stands for Pico Badminton Electronic Tension Head. It’s based around the Raspberry Pi Pico, as you might imagine. The Pico is charged with controlling the stringing procedure via a stepper motor and lead screw, while using a load cell to measure string tension during the process. A small two-line character LCD serves as the user interface, along with some buttons, LEDs and a buzzer for feedback. The electronic stringing gear is mounted on to a traditional manual drop-weight stringing machine to execute the process faster and more accurately, at least in theory.
Files are on Github for those that wish to explore the build further.
It’s not the first stringing machine we’ve featured here, either
! Video after the break. | 5 | 4 | [
{
"comment_id": "6760617",
"author": "make piece not war",
"timestamp": "2024-05-21T05:25:56",
"content": "I need an article about jigs. This one is a good example.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "6760655",
"author": "Jonathan Wilson",
"... | 1,760,371,908.781388 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2024/05/20/3d-printed-braille-trainer-reduces-barrier-to-entry/ | 3D Printed Braille Trainer Reduces Barrier To Entry | Bryan Cockfield | [
"3d Printer hacks"
] | [
"3d printer",
"accessibility",
"braille",
"open source",
"public domain",
"tpu filament",
"trainer"
] | Accessibility devices are a wonder of modern technology, allowing people with various needs to interact more easily with the world. From prosthetics to devices to augment or aid someone’s vision or hearing, devices like these can open up many more opportunities than would otherwise exist. A major problem with a wide array of these tools is that they can cost a fortune. [3D Printy]
hoped to bring the cost down for Braille trainers
which can often cost around $1000.
Braille trainers consist of a set of characters, each with six pins or buttons that can be depressed to form the various symbols used in the Braille system. [3D Printy]’s version originally included six buttons, each with a set of springs, that would be able to pop up and down. After some work and real-world use, though, he found that his device was too cumbersome to be effective and redesigned the entire mechanism around flexible TPU filament, allowing him to ditch the springs in favor of indentations and buttons that snap into place without a dedicated spring mechanism.
The new design is modular, allowing many units to be connected to form longer trainers than just a single character. He’s also released his design under the Creative Commons public domain license, allowing anyone to make and distribute these tools as they see fit. The design also achieves his goal of dramatically reducing the price of these tools to essentially just the cost of filament, provided you have access to a 3D printer of some sort. If you need to translate some Braille writing and don’t want to take the time to learn this system,
take a look at this robotic Braille reader instead
.
Thanks to [George] for the tip! | 8 | 3 | [
{
"comment_id": "6760547",
"author": "David",
"timestamp": "2024-05-21T00:40:07",
"content": "Fidget poppers could be improvised as a Braille trainer.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "6760572",
"author": "Ostracus",
"timestamp": "2024-05-... | 1,760,371,908.854775 |
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