The Amazon Dash Button: A Retrospective
https://hackaday.com/2019/08/27/the-amazon-dash-button-a-retrospective/
The Internet of Things will revolutionize everything! Manufacturing? Dog walking? Coffee bean refilling? Car driving? Food eating? Put a sensor in it! The marketing makes it pretty clear that there’s no part of our lives which isn’t enhanced with The Internet of Things. Why? Because with a simple sensor and …read more (https://hackaday.com/2019/08/27/the-amazon-dash-button-a-retrospective/)
https://hackaday.com/2019/08/27/the-amazon-dash-button-a-retrospective/
The Internet of Things will revolutionize everything! Manufacturing? Dog walking? Coffee bean refilling? Car driving? Food eating? Put a sensor in it! The marketing makes it pretty clear that there’s no part of our lives which isn’t enhanced with The Internet of Things. Why? Because with a simple sensor and …read more (https://hackaday.com/2019/08/27/the-amazon-dash-button-a-retrospective/)
Vintage Car Radio Now Plays Games and Chiptunes
https://hackaday.com/2019/08/27/vintage-car-radio-now-plays-games-and-chiptunes/
[MisterM] seems to specialize in squeezing new electronics into old but good-looking technology. His latest creation focuses on a space-age specimen: an interesting car radio from 1963 that could be pulled out from the dashboard and taken along wherever. The beat goes on, thanks to a shiny built-in speaker on …read more (https://hackaday.com/2019/08/27/vintage-car-radio-now-plays-games-and-chiptunes/)
https://hackaday.com/2019/08/27/vintage-car-radio-now-plays-games-and-chiptunes/
[MisterM] seems to specialize in squeezing new electronics into old but good-looking technology. His latest creation focuses on a space-age specimen: an interesting car radio from 1963 that could be pulled out from the dashboard and taken along wherever. The beat goes on, thanks to a shiny built-in speaker on …read more (https://hackaday.com/2019/08/27/vintage-car-radio-now-plays-games-and-chiptunes/)
Following Pigs: Building an Injectable Livestock Tracking System
https://hackaday.com/2019/08/27/following-pigs-building-an-injectable-livestock-tracking-system/
I’m often asked to design customer and employee tracking systems. There are quite a few ways to do it, and it’s an interesting intersection of engineering and ethics – what information is reasonable to collect in different contexts, anonymizing and securely storing it, and at a fundamental level whether the …read more (https://hackaday.com/2019/08/27/following-pigs-building-an-injectable-livestock-tracking-system/)
https://hackaday.com/2019/08/27/following-pigs-building-an-injectable-livestock-tracking-system/
I’m often asked to design customer and employee tracking systems. There are quite a few ways to do it, and it’s an interesting intersection of engineering and ethics – what information is reasonable to collect in different contexts, anonymizing and securely storing it, and at a fundamental level whether the …read more (https://hackaday.com/2019/08/27/following-pigs-building-an-injectable-livestock-tracking-system/)
A Car Phone — No, Not That Kind
https://hackaday.com/2019/08/27/a-car-phone-no-not-that-kind/
Autonomous vehicle development is a field of technology that remains relatively elusive to the average hacker, what with the needing a whole car and all. Instead of having to deal with such a large scale challenge, [Piotr Sokólski] has instead turned to implementing the same principles on the scale of …read more (https://hackaday.com/2019/08/27/a-car-phone-no-not-that-kind/)
https://hackaday.com/2019/08/27/a-car-phone-no-not-that-kind/
Autonomous vehicle development is a field of technology that remains relatively elusive to the average hacker, what with the needing a whole car and all. Instead of having to deal with such a large scale challenge, [Piotr Sokólski] has instead turned to implementing the same principles on the scale of …read more (https://hackaday.com/2019/08/27/a-car-phone-no-not-that-kind/)
Trimmed Dreamcast Board Makes For Perfect Portable
https://hackaday.com/2019/08/27/trimmed-dreamcast-board-makes-for-perfect-portable/
In the last year or so we’ve been seeing an array of portable game system builds based around “trimmed” Wii motherboards which have literally been cut down to a fraction of their original size. It turns out that most of the board is dedicated to non-essential functions, with the core …read more (https://hackaday.com/2019/08/27/trimmed-dreamcast-board-makes-for-perfect-portable/)
https://hackaday.com/2019/08/27/trimmed-dreamcast-board-makes-for-perfect-portable/
In the last year or so we’ve been seeing an array of portable game system builds based around “trimmed” Wii motherboards which have literally been cut down to a fraction of their original size. It turns out that most of the board is dedicated to non-essential functions, with the core …read more (https://hackaday.com/2019/08/27/trimmed-dreamcast-board-makes-for-perfect-portable/)
Another Way To Make PCBs At Home
https://hackaday.com/2019/08/27/another-way-to-make-pcbs-at-home/
One of the more popular ways of rolling out your own custom PCB is to simply create the model in your CAD program of choice and send it off to a board manufacturer who will take care of the dirty work for you. This way there is no need to …read more (https://hackaday.com/2019/08/27/another-way-to-make-pcbs-at-home/)
https://hackaday.com/2019/08/27/another-way-to-make-pcbs-at-home/
One of the more popular ways of rolling out your own custom PCB is to simply create the model in your CAD program of choice and send it off to a board manufacturer who will take care of the dirty work for you. This way there is no need to …read more (https://hackaday.com/2019/08/27/another-way-to-make-pcbs-at-home/)
New Cray Will Reach 1.5 exaFLOPS
https://hackaday.com/2019/08/27/new-cray-will-reach-1-5-exaflops/
It wasn’t that long ago when hard drives that boasted a terabyte of capacity were novel. But impressive though the tera- prefix is, beyond that is peta and even further is exa — as in petabyte and exabyte. A common i7 CPU currently clocks in at about 60 gigaflops (floating …read more (https://hackaday.com/2019/08/27/new-cray-will-reach-1-5-exaflops/)
https://hackaday.com/2019/08/27/new-cray-will-reach-1-5-exaflops/
It wasn’t that long ago when hard drives that boasted a terabyte of capacity were novel. But impressive though the tera- prefix is, beyond that is peta and even further is exa — as in petabyte and exabyte. A common i7 CPU currently clocks in at about 60 gigaflops (floating …read more (https://hackaday.com/2019/08/27/new-cray-will-reach-1-5-exaflops/)
Fixing A Cheap UPS HAT For Your Raspberry Pi With A Tiny Daemon
https://hackaday.com/2019/08/27/fixing-a-cheap-ups-hat-for-your-raspberry-pi-with-a-tiny-daemon/
An uninterruptible power supply (UPS) isn’t something solely to have hooked up to your desktop PC. Your Raspberry Pi SBC might also benefit from it. Yet the available options aren’t too great, or are too expensive. This leads folk including [Joachim Baumann] to modify cheerfully cheap Chinese UPS HAT boards …read more (https://hackaday.com/2019/08/27/fixing-a-cheap-ups-hat-for-your-raspberry-pi-with-a-tiny-daemon/)
https://hackaday.com/2019/08/27/fixing-a-cheap-ups-hat-for-your-raspberry-pi-with-a-tiny-daemon/
An uninterruptible power supply (UPS) isn’t something solely to have hooked up to your desktop PC. Your Raspberry Pi SBC might also benefit from it. Yet the available options aren’t too great, or are too expensive. This leads folk including [Joachim Baumann] to modify cheerfully cheap Chinese UPS HAT boards …read more (https://hackaday.com/2019/08/27/fixing-a-cheap-ups-hat-for-your-raspberry-pi-with-a-tiny-daemon/)
Finely Machined Valve Controls Miniature RC Hydraulics
https://hackaday.com/2019/08/28/finely-machined-valve-controls-miniature-rc-hydraulics/
Hydraulic components are the industrial power transmission version of LEGO. Pumps, cylinders, valves – pretty much everything is standardized, and fitting out a working system is a matter of picking the right parts and just plumbing everything together. That’s fine if you want to build an excavator or a dump …read more (https://hackaday.com/2019/08/28/finely-machined-valve-controls-miniature-rc-hydraulics/)
https://hackaday.com/2019/08/28/finely-machined-valve-controls-miniature-rc-hydraulics/
Hydraulic components are the industrial power transmission version of LEGO. Pumps, cylinders, valves – pretty much everything is standardized, and fitting out a working system is a matter of picking the right parts and just plumbing everything together. That’s fine if you want to build an excavator or a dump …read more (https://hackaday.com/2019/08/28/finely-machined-valve-controls-miniature-rc-hydraulics/)
Secret Messages Could be Hiding in Your Server Logs
https://hackaday.com/2019/08/28/secret-messages-could-be-hiding-in-your-server-logs/
[Ryan Flowers] writes in with a clever little hack that can allow you to hide data where nobody is going to go looking for it. By exploiting the fact that a web server will generally log all HTTP requests whether or not it’s valid, he shows how you can covertly …read more (https://hackaday.com/2019/08/28/secret-messages-could-be-hiding-in-your-server-logs/)
https://hackaday.com/2019/08/28/secret-messages-could-be-hiding-in-your-server-logs/
[Ryan Flowers] writes in with a clever little hack that can allow you to hide data where nobody is going to go looking for it. By exploiting the fact that a web server will generally log all HTTP requests whether or not it’s valid, he shows how you can covertly …read more (https://hackaday.com/2019/08/28/secret-messages-could-be-hiding-in-your-server-logs/)
Kilopower: NASA’s Offworld Nuclear Reactor
https://hackaday.com/2019/08/28/kilopower-nasas-offworld-nuclear-reactor/
Here on Earth, the ability to generate electricity is something we take for granted. We can count on the sun to illuminate solar panels, and the movement of air and water to spin turbines. Fossil fuels, for all their downsides, have provided cheap and reliable power for centuries. No matter …read more (https://hackaday.com/2019/08/28/kilopower-nasas-offworld-nuclear-reactor/)
https://hackaday.com/2019/08/28/kilopower-nasas-offworld-nuclear-reactor/
Here on Earth, the ability to generate electricity is something we take for granted. We can count on the sun to illuminate solar panels, and the movement of air and water to spin turbines. Fossil fuels, for all their downsides, have provided cheap and reliable power for centuries. No matter …read more (https://hackaday.com/2019/08/28/kilopower-nasas-offworld-nuclear-reactor/)
Everything You Want To Know About The Cheapest Processors Available
https://hackaday.com/2019/08/28/everything-you-want-to-know-about-the-cheapest-processors-available/
Those of us who use microprocessors in our work will be familiar with their cost, whether we are buying one or two for a project or ten million on reels for a production run. We’re used to paying tens of cents or maybe even a dollar for a little microcontroller …read more (https://hackaday.com/2019/08/28/everything-you-want-to-know-about-the-cheapest-processors-available/)
https://hackaday.com/2019/08/28/everything-you-want-to-know-about-the-cheapest-processors-available/
Those of us who use microprocessors in our work will be familiar with their cost, whether we are buying one or two for a project or ten million on reels for a production run. We’re used to paying tens of cents or maybe even a dollar for a little microcontroller …read more (https://hackaday.com/2019/08/28/everything-you-want-to-know-about-the-cheapest-processors-available/)
Global Radiation Montoring And Tracking Nuclear Disasters At Home
https://hackaday.com/2019/08/28/global-radiation-montoring-and-tracking-nuclear-disasters-at-home/
Many of us don’t think too much about radiation levels in our area, until a nuclear disaster hits and questions are raised. Radiation monitoring is an important undertaking, both from a public health perspective and as a way to monitor things like weapon development. So why is it done, how …read more (https://hackaday.com/2019/08/28/global-radiation-montoring-and-tracking-nuclear-disasters-at-home/)
https://hackaday.com/2019/08/28/global-radiation-montoring-and-tracking-nuclear-disasters-at-home/
Many of us don’t think too much about radiation levels in our area, until a nuclear disaster hits and questions are raised. Radiation monitoring is an important undertaking, both from a public health perspective and as a way to monitor things like weapon development. So why is it done, how …read more (https://hackaday.com/2019/08/28/global-radiation-montoring-and-tracking-nuclear-disasters-at-home/)
Cat Litter Tray Joins The Internet of Things
https://hackaday.com/2019/08/28/cat-litter-tray-joins-the-internet-of-things/
Keeping a cat as a pet can be rewarding, but it’s always important to consider how to handle the mess – and we’re not just talking about the tea cups pushed off tables here. To handle just this task, [Igor] decided to hook his cat litter box up to the …read more (https://hackaday.com/2019/08/28/cat-litter-tray-joins-the-internet-of-things/)
https://hackaday.com/2019/08/28/cat-litter-tray-joins-the-internet-of-things/
Keeping a cat as a pet can be rewarding, but it’s always important to consider how to handle the mess – and we’re not just talking about the tea cups pushed off tables here. To handle just this task, [Igor] decided to hook his cat litter box up to the …read more (https://hackaday.com/2019/08/28/cat-litter-tray-joins-the-internet-of-things/)
Skid Steer Mows Airport Grass Autonomously
https://hackaday.com/2019/08/28/skid-steer-mows-airport-grass-autonomously/
Sure, mowing the lawn is a hassle. No one really wants to spend their time and money growing a crop that doesn’t produce food, but we do it anyway. If you’re taking care of a quarter acre in the suburbs it’s not that much of a time sink, but if …read more (https://hackaday.com/2019/08/28/skid-steer-mows-airport-grass-autonomously/)
https://hackaday.com/2019/08/28/skid-steer-mows-airport-grass-autonomously/
Sure, mowing the lawn is a hassle. No one really wants to spend their time and money growing a crop that doesn’t produce food, but we do it anyway. If you’re taking care of a quarter acre in the suburbs it’s not that much of a time sink, but if …read more (https://hackaday.com/2019/08/28/skid-steer-mows-airport-grass-autonomously/)
Monitoring An Electric Fence With LoRaWAN
https://hackaday.com/2019/08/28/monitoring-an-electric-fence-with-lorawan/
Making sure that an electric fence which is keeping one’s cattle and sheep from wandering off is still working properly seems like a fairly daunting task, especially when this fence is quite a distance from one’s home so checking up on it is time-consuming. After a friend of [kiu] got …read more (https://hackaday.com/2019/08/28/monitoring-an-electric-fence-with-lorawan/)
https://hackaday.com/2019/08/28/monitoring-an-electric-fence-with-lorawan/
Making sure that an electric fence which is keeping one’s cattle and sheep from wandering off is still working properly seems like a fairly daunting task, especially when this fence is quite a distance from one’s home so checking up on it is time-consuming. After a friend of [kiu] got …read more (https://hackaday.com/2019/08/28/monitoring-an-electric-fence-with-lorawan/)
FM Signal Detection The Pulse-Counting Way
https://hackaday.com/2019/08/28/fm-signal-detection-the-pulse-counting-way/
Compared to the simple diode needed to demodulate AM radio signals, the detector circuits used for FM are slightly more complicated. Wrapping your head around phase detectors, ratio detectors, discriminators, and quadrature detectors can be quite an exercise. There’s another demodulation method that’s not so common, but thankfully it’s also …read more (https://hackaday.com/2019/08/28/fm-signal-detection-the-pulse-counting-way/)
https://hackaday.com/2019/08/28/fm-signal-detection-the-pulse-counting-way/
Compared to the simple diode needed to demodulate AM radio signals, the detector circuits used for FM are slightly more complicated. Wrapping your head around phase detectors, ratio detectors, discriminators, and quadrature detectors can be quite an exercise. There’s another demodulation method that’s not so common, but thankfully it’s also …read more (https://hackaday.com/2019/08/28/fm-signal-detection-the-pulse-counting-way/)
How The Power Gets To The Outlet
https://hackaday.com/2019/08/28/how-the-power-gets-to-the-outlet/
[Practical Engineering] is ready to explain how power substations get electricity to you in his latest video, which you can see below. One of the things we always notice when talking to people either in our community or outside it is that most people have no idea how most of …read more (https://hackaday.com/2019/08/28/how-the-power-gets-to-the-outlet/)
https://hackaday.com/2019/08/28/how-the-power-gets-to-the-outlet/
[Practical Engineering] is ready to explain how power substations get electricity to you in his latest video, which you can see below. One of the things we always notice when talking to people either in our community or outside it is that most people have no idea how most of …read more (https://hackaday.com/2019/08/28/how-the-power-gets-to-the-outlet/)
Experiments In 3D Graphics Via Excel
https://hackaday.com/2019/08/29/experiments-in-3d-graphics-via-excel/
3D graphics were once the domain of university research groups and large, specialized computing systems. Eventually, they were tamed and became mainstream. Your phone, tablet, and home computer are all perfectly capable of generating moving 3D graphics. Incidentally, so is Microsoft Excel.
This is the work of of [s0lly], who …read more (https://hackaday.com/2019/08/29/experiments-in-3d-graphics-via-excel/)
https://hackaday.com/2019/08/29/experiments-in-3d-graphics-via-excel/
3D graphics were once the domain of university research groups and large, specialized computing systems. Eventually, they were tamed and became mainstream. Your phone, tablet, and home computer are all perfectly capable of generating moving 3D graphics. Incidentally, so is Microsoft Excel.
This is the work of of [s0lly], who …read more (https://hackaday.com/2019/08/29/experiments-in-3d-graphics-via-excel/)
Giant LED Display is 1200 Balls to the Wall
https://hackaday.com/2019/08/29/giant-led-display-is-1200-balls-to-the-wall/
When you’re going to build something big, it’s often a good idea to start small and work out the bugs first. That’s what [bitluni] did with his massive 1200-pixel LED video wall, which he unveiled at Maker Faire Hanover recently.
We covered his prototype a while back, a mere 300 …read more (https://hackaday.com/2019/08/29/giant-led-display-is-1200-balls-to-the-wall/)
https://hackaday.com/2019/08/29/giant-led-display-is-1200-balls-to-the-wall/
When you’re going to build something big, it’s often a good idea to start small and work out the bugs first. That’s what [bitluni] did with his massive 1200-pixel LED video wall, which he unveiled at Maker Faire Hanover recently.
We covered his prototype a while back, a mere 300 …read more (https://hackaday.com/2019/08/29/giant-led-display-is-1200-balls-to-the-wall/)
Pegleg: Raspberry Pi Implanted Below the Skin (Not Coming to a Store Near You)
https://hackaday.com/2019/08/29/pegleg-raspberry-pi-implanted-below-the-skin-not-coming-to-a-store-near-you/
Earlier this month, a group of biohackers installed two Rasberry Pis in their legs. While that sounds like the bleeding edge, those computers were already v2 of a project called PegLeg. I was fortunate enough to see both versions in the flesh, so to speak. The first version was scarily …read more (https://hackaday.com/2019/08/29/pegleg-raspberry-pi-implanted-below-the-skin-not-coming-to-a-store-near-you/)
https://hackaday.com/2019/08/29/pegleg-raspberry-pi-implanted-below-the-skin-not-coming-to-a-store-near-you/
Earlier this month, a group of biohackers installed two Rasberry Pis in their legs. While that sounds like the bleeding edge, those computers were already v2 of a project called PegLeg. I was fortunate enough to see both versions in the flesh, so to speak. The first version was scarily …read more (https://hackaday.com/2019/08/29/pegleg-raspberry-pi-implanted-below-the-skin-not-coming-to-a-store-near-you/)