Eight Motors Speed This Boat Along
https://hackaday.com/2019/12/21/eight-motors-speed-this-boat-along/
Messing about in boats has always held a curious appeal for the hardware hacker. Perhaps that’s because it remains an approachable way to make something that moves under its own power with a bit of speed, and barring calamities, the worst that can happen to the unwary boater is a …read more (https://hackaday.com/2019/12/21/eight-motors-speed-this-boat-along/)
https://hackaday.com/2019/12/21/eight-motors-speed-this-boat-along/
Messing about in boats has always held a curious appeal for the hardware hacker. Perhaps that’s because it remains an approachable way to make something that moves under its own power with a bit of speed, and barring calamities, the worst that can happen to the unwary boater is a …read more (https://hackaday.com/2019/12/21/eight-motors-speed-this-boat-along/)
Diving with an Unlimited Air Supply
https://hackaday.com/2019/12/21/diving-with-an-unlimited-air-supply/
If you want to explore underwater, you have a few options. You can hold your breath. You can try to recycle your air. You can carry your breathing air with you as in SCUBA. You can stick a tube up like a snorkel, or you can have air sent down …read more (https://hackaday.com/2019/12/21/diving-with-an-unlimited-air-supply/)
https://hackaday.com/2019/12/21/diving-with-an-unlimited-air-supply/
If you want to explore underwater, you have a few options. You can hold your breath. You can try to recycle your air. You can carry your breathing air with you as in SCUBA. You can stick a tube up like a snorkel, or you can have air sent down …read more (https://hackaday.com/2019/12/21/diving-with-an-unlimited-air-supply/)
Optical Communication Using LEDs Alone
https://hackaday.com/2019/12/22/optical-communication-using-leds-alone/
We’re all used to the humble LED as a ubiquitous source of light, but how many of us are aware that these components can also be used as photodiodes? It’s something [Giovanni Blu Mitolo] takes us through as he demonstrates a simple data link using just a pair of LEDs …read more (https://hackaday.com/2019/12/22/optical-communication-using-leds-alone/)
https://hackaday.com/2019/12/22/optical-communication-using-leds-alone/
We’re all used to the humble LED as a ubiquitous source of light, but how many of us are aware that these components can also be used as photodiodes? It’s something [Giovanni Blu Mitolo] takes us through as he demonstrates a simple data link using just a pair of LEDs …read more (https://hackaday.com/2019/12/22/optical-communication-using-leds-alone/)
Arcade Buttons Make a Great Multimedia Keyboard
https://hackaday.com/2019/12/22/arcade-buttons-make-a-great-multimedia-keyboard/
[Giovanni Bernardo] has a very important job – managing the audio for several Christmas events. Desiring a simple and effective control interface, he designed a dedicated media keyboard to run the show.
The project began with an Arduino Leonardo, commonly used in projects that aim to create a USB Human …read more (https://hackaday.com/2019/12/22/arcade-buttons-make-a-great-multimedia-keyboard/)
https://hackaday.com/2019/12/22/arcade-buttons-make-a-great-multimedia-keyboard/
[Giovanni Bernardo] has a very important job – managing the audio for several Christmas events. Desiring a simple and effective control interface, he designed a dedicated media keyboard to run the show.
The project began with an Arduino Leonardo, commonly used in projects that aim to create a USB Human …read more (https://hackaday.com/2019/12/22/arcade-buttons-make-a-great-multimedia-keyboard/)
Is That Cheap Multimeter as Good as a Fluke? Let’s Find Out
https://hackaday.com/2019/12/22/is-that-cheap-multimeter-as-good-as-a-fluke-lets-find-out/
When [learnelectronics] talks about cheap meters, he always says, “If you are doing this for a living, get yourself a Fluke.” But he realized he’s never shown the inside of a Fluke meter, so he rectified that in his most recent post. For comparison, he opens up a Fluke 26-III …read more (https://hackaday.com/2019/12/22/is-that-cheap-multimeter-as-good-as-a-fluke-lets-find-out/)
https://hackaday.com/2019/12/22/is-that-cheap-multimeter-as-good-as-a-fluke-lets-find-out/
When [learnelectronics] talks about cheap meters, he always says, “If you are doing this for a living, get yourself a Fluke.” But he realized he’s never shown the inside of a Fluke meter, so he rectified that in his most recent post. For comparison, he opens up a Fluke 26-III …read more (https://hackaday.com/2019/12/22/is-that-cheap-multimeter-as-good-as-a-fluke-lets-find-out/)
DIY Electric Roller Bender Can Handle The Thick(er) Stuff
https://hackaday.com/2019/12/22/diy-electric-roller-bender-can-handle-the-thicker-stuff/
Every serious metal worker will end up getting themself a roller bender at some point, but if you’re as dedicated as [Meanwhile in the Garage], you might just start building the things yourself. His heavy-duty electric roller bender, demonstrated in the video after the break, is perfect for the thicker …read more (https://hackaday.com/2019/12/22/diy-electric-roller-bender-can-handle-the-thicker-stuff/)
https://hackaday.com/2019/12/22/diy-electric-roller-bender-can-handle-the-thicker-stuff/
Every serious metal worker will end up getting themself a roller bender at some point, but if you’re as dedicated as [Meanwhile in the Garage], you might just start building the things yourself. His heavy-duty electric roller bender, demonstrated in the video after the break, is perfect for the thicker …read more (https://hackaday.com/2019/12/22/diy-electric-roller-bender-can-handle-the-thicker-stuff/)
Listen to your Feet, They Have a Lot to Tell You
https://hackaday.com/2019/12/22/listen-to-your-feet-they-have-a-lot-to-tell-you/
[Umar Qattan] is in tune with his sole and is trying hard to listen to what it has to say.
At a low level, [Umar] is building an insole with an array of force sensors in it. These sensors are affixed to a flexible PCB which is placed in a …read more (https://hackaday.com/2019/12/22/listen-to-your-feet-they-have-a-lot-to-tell-you/)
https://hackaday.com/2019/12/22/listen-to-your-feet-they-have-a-lot-to-tell-you/
[Umar Qattan] is in tune with his sole and is trying hard to listen to what it has to say.
At a low level, [Umar] is building an insole with an array of force sensors in it. These sensors are affixed to a flexible PCB which is placed in a …read more (https://hackaday.com/2019/12/22/listen-to-your-feet-they-have-a-lot-to-tell-you/)
Hackaday Links: December 22, 2019
https://hackaday.com/2019/12/22/hackaday-links-december-22-2019/
It’s hard to believe it, but the Raspberry Pi has been on the market for only seven years now. The single-board computer has become so entrenched in the hobby electronics scene that it’s hard to imagine life without it, or what we did before it came along. And with the …read more (https://hackaday.com/2019/12/22/hackaday-links-december-22-2019/)
https://hackaday.com/2019/12/22/hackaday-links-december-22-2019/
It’s hard to believe it, but the Raspberry Pi has been on the market for only seven years now. The single-board computer has become so entrenched in the hobby electronics scene that it’s hard to imagine life without it, or what we did before it came along. And with the …read more (https://hackaday.com/2019/12/22/hackaday-links-december-22-2019/)
[Fran] is Helping Santa Slay This Year
https://hackaday.com/2019/12/22/fran-is-helping-santa-slay-this-year/
We know at least one person who ought to make Santa’s ‘nice’ list this year. [Fran] was probably near the top of it already, but sending Santa a handmade greeting card with a fully-functioning guitar amp inside will probably make him rewrite her name in glitter, or silver Sharpie.
This …read more (https://hackaday.com/2019/12/22/fran-is-helping-santa-slay-this-year/)
https://hackaday.com/2019/12/22/fran-is-helping-santa-slay-this-year/
We know at least one person who ought to make Santa’s ‘nice’ list this year. [Fran] was probably near the top of it already, but sending Santa a handmade greeting card with a fully-functioning guitar amp inside will probably make him rewrite her name in glitter, or silver Sharpie.
This …read more (https://hackaday.com/2019/12/22/fran-is-helping-santa-slay-this-year/)
Build A DSLR Photo Booth The Easy Way
https://hackaday.com/2019/12/22/build-a-dslr-photo-booth-the-easy-way/
It’s a well-known fact in capitalist societies that any product or service, if being used in a wedding, instantly triples in cost. Wanting to avoid shelling out big money for a simple photo booth for a friend’s big day, [Lewis] decided to build his own.
Wanting a quality photo output, …read more (https://hackaday.com/2019/12/22/build-a-dslr-photo-booth-the-easy-way/)
https://hackaday.com/2019/12/22/build-a-dslr-photo-booth-the-easy-way/
It’s a well-known fact in capitalist societies that any product or service, if being used in a wedding, instantly triples in cost. Wanting to avoid shelling out big money for a simple photo booth for a friend’s big day, [Lewis] decided to build his own.
Wanting a quality photo output, …read more (https://hackaday.com/2019/12/22/build-a-dslr-photo-booth-the-easy-way/)
194 LED Ball is Free-Form Soldering On Another Level
https://hackaday.com/2019/12/23/194-led-ball-is-free-form-soldering-on-another-level/
We’ve all seen plenty of impressive free-form soldering in these pages, maybe some of us have even had a go ourselves. Using nothing but bare conductors, electronic components, and solder, complex and beautiful electronic sculptures can be created. But the latest free-form project from [Jiří Praus] takes the medium to …read more (https://hackaday.com/2019/12/23/194-led-ball-is-free-form-soldering-on-another-level/)
https://hackaday.com/2019/12/23/194-led-ball-is-free-form-soldering-on-another-level/
We’ve all seen plenty of impressive free-form soldering in these pages, maybe some of us have even had a go ourselves. Using nothing but bare conductors, electronic components, and solder, complex and beautiful electronic sculptures can be created. But the latest free-form project from [Jiří Praus] takes the medium to …read more (https://hackaday.com/2019/12/23/194-led-ball-is-free-form-soldering-on-another-level/)
Quadruped Robot Disguises Itself As A Ball
https://hackaday.com/2019/12/23/quadruped-robot-disguises-itself-as-a-ball/
When the Skynet baseball bot swarms attack, we’ll be throwing [Carl Bugeja] some dirty looks for getting them started. He’s been working on 4B, a little quadruped robot that can transform itself into a sphere almost perfectly.
Before [Carl] was distracted by the wonders of PCB actuators more than a …read more (https://hackaday.com/2019/12/23/quadruped-robot-disguises-itself-as-a-ball/)
https://hackaday.com/2019/12/23/quadruped-robot-disguises-itself-as-a-ball/
When the Skynet baseball bot swarms attack, we’ll be throwing [Carl Bugeja] some dirty looks for getting them started. He’s been working on 4B, a little quadruped robot that can transform itself into a sphere almost perfectly.
Before [Carl] was distracted by the wonders of PCB actuators more than a …read more (https://hackaday.com/2019/12/23/quadruped-robot-disguises-itself-as-a-ball/)
See You On the Dark Side of the Moon: China’s Lunar Radio Observatory
https://hackaday.com/2019/12/23/see-you-on-the-dark-side-of-the-moon-chinas-lunar-radio-observatory/
For nearly as long as there has been radio, there have been antennas trained on the sky, looking at the universe in a different light than traditional astronomy. Radio astronomers have used their sensitive equipment to study the Sun, the planets, distant galaxies, and strange objects from the very edge …read more (https://hackaday.com/2019/12/23/see-you-on-the-dark-side-of-the-moon-chinas-lunar-radio-observatory/)
https://hackaday.com/2019/12/23/see-you-on-the-dark-side-of-the-moon-chinas-lunar-radio-observatory/
For nearly as long as there has been radio, there have been antennas trained on the sky, looking at the universe in a different light than traditional astronomy. Radio astronomers have used their sensitive equipment to study the Sun, the planets, distant galaxies, and strange objects from the very edge …read more (https://hackaday.com/2019/12/23/see-you-on-the-dark-side-of-the-moon-chinas-lunar-radio-observatory/)
Slack, Now On Windows 3.1
https://hackaday.com/2019/12/23/slack-now-on-windows-3-1/
Slack is either an online collaboration tool, or a religion, depending on who you talk to. Naturally, it’s accessible across all manner of modern platforms, from Windows and MacOS to smartphones. However, some prefer to go further back. At a recent company hackathon, [Yeo Kheng Meng] decided to create a …read more (https://hackaday.com/2019/12/23/slack-now-on-windows-3-1/)
https://hackaday.com/2019/12/23/slack-now-on-windows-3-1/
Slack is either an online collaboration tool, or a religion, depending on who you talk to. Naturally, it’s accessible across all manner of modern platforms, from Windows and MacOS to smartphones. However, some prefer to go further back. At a recent company hackathon, [Yeo Kheng Meng] decided to create a …read more (https://hackaday.com/2019/12/23/slack-now-on-windows-3-1/)
Linux Fu: WSL Tricks Blur the Windows/Linux Line
https://hackaday.com/2019/12/23/linux-fu-wsl-tricks-blur-the-windows-linux-line/
We have to admit, we have an odd fascination with WSL — the Windows subsystem for Linux. On the one hand, it gives us more options on Windows 10 for running the software we love. On the other hand, we wonder why we aren’t just running Linux. Sometimes it is …read more (https://hackaday.com/2019/12/23/linux-fu-wsl-tricks-blur-the-windows-linux-line/)
https://hackaday.com/2019/12/23/linux-fu-wsl-tricks-blur-the-windows-linux-line/
We have to admit, we have an odd fascination with WSL — the Windows subsystem for Linux. On the one hand, it gives us more options on Windows 10 for running the software we love. On the other hand, we wonder why we aren’t just running Linux. Sometimes it is …read more (https://hackaday.com/2019/12/23/linux-fu-wsl-tricks-blur-the-windows-linux-line/)
Supercon Talk: Emily Velasco Wants You to Work Weird
https://hackaday.com/2019/12/23/supercon-talk-emily-velasco-wants-you-to-work-weird/
Emily Velasco seems to absolutely delight in the weird, and we think that is wonderful. Weird brings us together. If you can be weird with someone else, you’ll have a special bond for life. In her inspiring 2019 Supercon talk (embedded below), Emily explains why she is drawn to weird …read more (https://hackaday.com/2019/12/23/supercon-talk-emily-velasco-wants-you-to-work-weird/)
https://hackaday.com/2019/12/23/supercon-talk-emily-velasco-wants-you-to-work-weird/
Emily Velasco seems to absolutely delight in the weird, and we think that is wonderful. Weird brings us together. If you can be weird with someone else, you’ll have a special bond for life. In her inspiring 2019 Supercon talk (embedded below), Emily explains why she is drawn to weird …read more (https://hackaday.com/2019/12/23/supercon-talk-emily-velasco-wants-you-to-work-weird/)
Motorizing a Plasma Cutter on the Cheap
https://hackaday.com/2019/12/23/motorizing-a-plasma-cutter-on-the-cheap/
A hand-held plasma cutter is an excellent tool to have if you are working with sheet metal, but it’s not particularly well suited to making long or repetitive cuts. Which is why [workshop from scratch] worked his usual scrapheap magic and built his own motorized track for making perfectly straight …read more (https://hackaday.com/2019/12/23/motorizing-a-plasma-cutter-on-the-cheap/)
https://hackaday.com/2019/12/23/motorizing-a-plasma-cutter-on-the-cheap/
A hand-held plasma cutter is an excellent tool to have if you are working with sheet metal, but it’s not particularly well suited to making long or repetitive cuts. Which is why [workshop from scratch] worked his usual scrapheap magic and built his own motorized track for making perfectly straight …read more (https://hackaday.com/2019/12/23/motorizing-a-plasma-cutter-on-the-cheap/)
Replacing A Non-Replacable Laptop Keyboard
https://hackaday.com/2019/12/23/replacing-a-non-replacable-laptop-keyboard/
Spilling a drink on a laptop is a terrifying experience. If you’re lucky you’ll ruin just a keyboard, and if not, your entire machine could go up in smoke. Assuming you’ve just suffered the latter, you can still be out of luck, as many laptops come with fancy integrated keyboards …read more (https://hackaday.com/2019/12/23/replacing-a-non-replacable-laptop-keyboard/)
https://hackaday.com/2019/12/23/replacing-a-non-replacable-laptop-keyboard/
Spilling a drink on a laptop is a terrifying experience. If you’re lucky you’ll ruin just a keyboard, and if not, your entire machine could go up in smoke. Assuming you’ve just suffered the latter, you can still be out of luck, as many laptops come with fancy integrated keyboards …read more (https://hackaday.com/2019/12/23/replacing-a-non-replacable-laptop-keyboard/)
Robot Insect Survives Swatting
https://hackaday.com/2019/12/23/robot-insect-survives-swatting/
There is an old saying, that ‘the hand is quicker than the eye;, but somewhat slower than the fly.” However, with a little practice you can swat a fly, although it sometimes doesn’t seem to faze the fly. École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) has announced they have used nanotech …read more (https://hackaday.com/2019/12/23/robot-insect-survives-swatting/)
https://hackaday.com/2019/12/23/robot-insect-survives-swatting/
There is an old saying, that ‘the hand is quicker than the eye;, but somewhat slower than the fly.” However, with a little practice you can swat a fly, although it sometimes doesn’t seem to faze the fly. École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) has announced they have used nanotech …read more (https://hackaday.com/2019/12/23/robot-insect-survives-swatting/)
Ted The Talking Toaster
https://hackaday.com/2019/12/23/ted-the-talking-toaster/
The team behind [8 Bits and a Byte] have built a talking toaster. More accurately, they retrofitted their existing toaster with some hardware components to make it appear to talk and get angry at its users. While the actual toaster functionality isn’t necessary for the build, it certainly allows the …read more (https://hackaday.com/2019/12/23/ted-the-talking-toaster/)
https://hackaday.com/2019/12/23/ted-the-talking-toaster/
The team behind [8 Bits and a Byte] have built a talking toaster. More accurately, they retrofitted their existing toaster with some hardware components to make it appear to talk and get angry at its users. While the actual toaster functionality isn’t necessary for the build, it certainly allows the …read more (https://hackaday.com/2019/12/23/ted-the-talking-toaster/)