Just like the garage computer explosion of the 70’s through the 80’s, which brought us such things as Apple, pong, Bill Gate’s hair, and the proliferation of personal computers, the maker movement is the new garage hardware explosion. Today, 135 million adults in the United States alone are involved in the maker movement.
Enthusiasts who want to build the products they want, from shortwave radios to personal computers, and to tweak products they’ve bought to make them even better, have long been a part of the electronics industry. By all measures, garage-style innovation remains alive and well today, as “makers” as they are called continue to turn out contemporary gadgets, including 3D printers, drones, and embedded electronics devices.
Making is about individual Do-It-Yourselfers being able to design and create with tools that were, as of a decade or two ago, only available to large, cash-rich corporations: CAD tools, CNC mills, 3D printers, low-quantity PCB manufacturing, open hardware such as Arduinos and similar inexpensive development boards – all items that have made it easier and relatively cheap to make whatever we imagine. For individuals, maker tools can change how someone views their home or their hobbies. The world is ours to make. Humans are genetically wired to be makers. The maker movement is simply the result of making powerful building and communication tools accessible to the masses. There are plenty of projects from makers that show good engineering: Take this Arduino board with tremendous potential, developed by a young maker, as example.
The maker movement is a catalyst to democratize entrepreneurship as these do-it-yourself electronics are proving to be hot sellers: In the past year, unit sales for 3D printing related products; Arduino units, parts and supplies; Raspberry Pi boards; drones and quadcopters; and robotics goods are all on a growth curve in terms of eBay sales. There are many Kickstarter maker projects going on. The Pebble E-Paper Watch raises $10 million. The LIFX smartphone-controlled LED bulb raises $1.3 million. What do these products have in common? They both secured funding through Kickstarter, a crowd-funding website that is changing the game for entrepreneurs. Both products were created by makers who seek to commercialize their inventions. These “startup makers” iterate on prototypes with high-end tools at professional makerspaces.
For companies to remain competitive, they need to embrace the maker movement or leave themselves open for disruption. Researchers found that 96 percent of business leaders believe new technologies have forever changed the rules of business by democratizing information and rewiring customer expectations. - You’ve got to figure out agile innovation. Maybe history is repeating itself as the types of products being sold reminded us of the computer tinkering that used to be happening in the 1970s to 1990s – similar in terms of demographics, tending to be young people, and low budget. Now the do-it-yourself category is deeply intertwined with the electronics industry. Open hardware is in the center in maker movement – we need open hardware designs! How can you publish your designs and still do business with it? Open source ecosystem markets behave differently and therefore require a very different playbook than traditional tech company: the differentiation is not in the technology you build; it is in the process and expertise that you slowly amass over an extended period of time.
By democratizing the product development process, helping these developments get to market, and transforming the way we educate the next generation of innovators, we will usher in the next industrial revolution. The world is ours to make. Earlier the PC created a new generation of software developers who could innovate in the digital world without the limitations of the physical world (virtually no marginal cost, software has become the great equalizer for innovation. Now advances in 3D printing and low-cost microcontrollers as well as the ubiquity of advanced sensors are enabling makers to bridge software with the physical world. Furthermore, the proliferation of wireless connectivity and cloud computing is helping makers contribute to the Internet of Things (IoT). We’re even beginning to see maker designs and devices entering those markets once thought to be off-limits, like medical.
Image source: The world is ours to make: The impact of the maker movement – EDN Magazine
In fact, many parents have engaged in the maker movement with their kids because they know that the education system is not adequately preparing their children for the 21st century. There is a strong movement to spread this DIY idea widely. The Maker Faire, which launched in the Bay Area in California in 2006, underlined the popularity of the movement by drawing a record 215,000 people combined in the Bay Area and New York events in 2014. There’s Maker Media, MakerCon, MakerShed, Make: magazine and 131 Maker Faire events that take place throughout the world. Now the founders of all these Makers want a way to connect what they refer to as the “maker movement” online. So Maker Media created a social network called MakerSpace, a Facebook-like social network that connects participants of Maker Faire in one online community. The new site will allow participants of the event to display their work online. There are many other similar sites that allow yout to present yout work fron Hackaday to your own blog. Today, 135 million adults in the United States alone are involved in the maker movement—although makers can be found everywhere in the world.
7,245 Comments
Tomi Engdahl says:
Camera Slide Pans and Tilts Camera Mechanically
http://hackaday.com/2017/07/05/camera-slide-pans-and-tilts-camera-mechanically/
A camera slider is a popular and simple project — just a linear slide, a stepper, and some sort of controller. Adding tilt and pan axes ups the complexity until you’ve got three motors, a controller, and probably a pretty beefy battery pack to run everything. Why not simplify with an entirely mechanical pan-tilt camera slider and leave all that heavy stuff at home?
There’s more than one way to program motion control, and [Enza3D]’s design uses adjustable rails to move the gimballed pan-tilt head through two axes of motion. One rail adjusts vertically to control tilt, while the other adjusts in and out relative to the slider to control pan.
Fully Mechanical Pan Tilt Slider
https://pinshape.com/items/36915-3d-printed-fully-mechanical-pan-tilt-slider
Tomi Engdahl says:
Pan Tilt Slider
https://docs.google.com/document/d/16V7NBwEH660oej-jE6OhFLKzCB_qXhbOIdcMPTIr4Jc/edit#heading=h.2gazcsgmxkub
Tomi Engdahl says:
A Microwave Oven Transformer Spot Welder
https://hackaday.io/project/12411-a-microwave-oven-transformer-spot-welder
I need a reliable and maintainable spot welder to solder the 18650 batteries of my Powerbucket. This is my version of this basic tool.
The power part of this spot welder is classical. It implements an MOT Microwave Oven Transfomer) with a 2 turn secondary winding made of heavy gauge wire. The current is fed to 2 bars made of 15 x 15 mm square brass tubes. The electrodes are made of machinned heavy gauge copper bus bar.
The power control board is based on a Cortex M0 processor controlling a TRIAC. The firing moment and duration are synchronised on the cycles of the mains. This insures repetability of the welding.
The duration of the welding is set by a potentiometer. The welding cycle is started by a push on a button or a pedal.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Hackaday Prize Entry: Octo, The Robotic Walker
http://hackaday.com/2017/07/06/hackaday-prize-entry-octo-the-robotic-walker/
Walkers like the Strandbeest are favorites due in part to their smooth design and fluid motion, but [Leandro] is going a slightly different way with Octo, an octopodal platform for exploring rough terrain. Octo is based on the Klann linkage which was developed in 1994 and intended to act as an alternative to wheels because of its ability to deal with rough terrain. [Leandro] made a small proof of concept out of soldered brass and liked the results. The next version will be larger, made out of aluminum and steel, and capable of carrying a payload.
Project Octo
An octopodal robotic platform for rough terrain exploration
https://hackaday.io/project/25629-project-octo
Tomi Engdahl says:
Tetris on a Soldering Iron
http://hackaday.com/2017/07/07/tetris-on-a-soldering-iron/
Our commenteers have all said good things about the open-source TS100 soldering iron pencil: things like “it solders well”. But we’ve all got soldering irons that solder well. What possible extra value does having open-source firmware on a soldering iron bring? [Joric] answered that question for us — it can play Tetris.
Tetris for TS100 Soldering Iron
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Buzew1z1AhQ
Tomi Engdahl says:
Wearable Breadboard
http://hackaday.com/2017/07/06/wearable-breadboard/
We all know what a short circuit is, but [Clement Zheng] and [Manasvi Lalwani] want to introduce you to the shirt circuit. Their goal is to help children, teachers and parents explore and learn electronics. The vehicle is a shirt with a breadboard-like pattern of conductors attaching snaps. Circuit elements reside in stiff felt boxes with matching snaps. You can see it all in action in the video
Shirt Circuit: DIY Wearable Breadboard Circuits
http://www.instructables.com/id/Shirt-Circuit-DIY-Wearable-Breadboard-Circuits/
Shirt circuit comprises of DIY components that children can build collaboratively with the help of their parents, teachers or even other peers. We have broken the making process down into small steps, as well as provided templates that can be printed and used as a guide.
Tomi Engdahl says:
PCB Art Becomes Lapel Pins
http://hackaday.com/2017/07/07/pcb-art-becomes-lapel-pins/
We’re now living in the golden age of PCB art. Over the last year or so, the community has learned to manipulate silk screen, copper, and solder mask layers into amazing pieces of craftsmanship. These boards are putting the ‘A’ in STEAM, and now we have fiberglass replacements for enamel lapel pins.
[jglim] didn’t have much experience with fabric, but a PCB lapel pin was something that seemed like it should work. There are really only three parts to a lapel pin — the small ornamental pin itself, a solderable spike somehow attached to the pin (usually by soldering), and a clasp that holds the pin steadfastly to a lapel.
Building a PCB lapel
http://jg.sn.sg/lapel/
PCB Fab
OSHPark was an obvious choice for this project for several reasons:
Free worldwide shipping, affordable – this project was US$2.55, shipped from the US via UPS.
Great tolerances, even for the silkscreen. This is relative to Chinese fabs, which usually focus more on the electrical bits.
Superb web preview. Design files can be viewed from their perspective in case something doesn’t work out.
ENIG (Gold) finish! It looks fabulous especially when it catches the sun, and has good oxidation resistance.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Roombot: Room Cleaning Robot
https://create.arduino.cc/projecthub/john-baptist-rodrigues/roombot-room-cleaning-robot-917da1?ref=platform&ref_id=424_recent___&offset=8
Roombot is a room cleaning robot that moves around the room avoiding obstacles, picking up dust and wiping the floor.
Tomi Engdahl says:
A Poor-Man’s Laser CNC Engraver
http://hackaday.com/2017/07/09/a-poor-mans-laser-cnc-engraver/
What do you get when you mix the disappointment that sometimes accompanies cheap Chinese electronics with the childhood fascination of torturing insects with a magnifying glass on a sunny day? You get a solar-powered CNC etcher, that’s what.
[drum303] remembered those days and used them to assuage his buyer’s remorse when the laser module on his brand new CNC engraver crapped out after the first 10 minutes. A cheap magnifying glass mounted to the laser holder and a sunny day, and he don’t need no stinkin’ lasers! The speed needs to be set to a super slow — 100mm per minute
CNC Etching With the Sun
http://www.instructables.com/id/CNC-Etching-With-the-Sun/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Firework Shows, The Vintage Atari Way
http://hackaday.com/2017/07/09/firework-shows-the-vintage-atari-way/
In the summer of 1987, the Atari magazine ST-Log caried a piece entitled “Atari Sets Off Fireworks!”, a profile of the use of Atari computers in professional firework displays by Astro Pyrotechnics, a now-defunct California company. Antic podcast host [Kevin Savetz] tracked down the fireworks expert interviewed in 1987, [Robert Veline], and secured not only an interview, but a priceless trove of photographs and software. These he has put online, allowing us a fascinating glimpse into the formative years of computerized pyrotechnics.
The system uses not one, but two Ataris. An ST has all the display data and scheduling set up in the Zoomracks card file software, this is then exported to an 800XL which does the work of running the display. We’re told the code for the 800XL is loaded on a ROM cartridge for reliability. The 800XL is mounted in an aluminium briefcase with a small CRT monitor and battery, and a custom interface board stuffed with TO220 power transistors to fire the pyrotechnics themselves.
Atari sets off fireworks! (pictures! source code!)
http://atariage.com/forums/topic/267234-atari-sets-off-fireworks-pictures-source-code/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Your Puzzle’s Done When The Electronics Says So
http://hackaday.com/2017/07/10/your-puzzles-done-when-the-electronics-says-so/
We can race against the clock when assembling jigsaw puzzles online but what about competing against each other in the real world? [HomeMadeGarbage] came up with the simplest of solutions with his jigsaw puzzle timer that stops only when the puzzle’s completely assembled.
His simple solution was to attach copper foil tape to the back of the pieces, with overlap. He did this in a serpentine pattern to ensure that all pieces had a strip of the tape.
Jigsaw Puzzle Timer
https://www.hackster.io/H0meMadeGarbage/jigsaw-puzzle-timer-38117b
I made Jigsaw Puzzle Timer using touch panel TFT display.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Cosmic Array
https://hackaday.io/project/16568-cosmic-array
An array of individual cosmic ray detectors distributed across a landscape to display how cosmic rays arrive as showers of muons.
The aim of this detector project is to deploy many detectors across a park or landscape. So that an observer from a distance or walking amongst them will experience how cosmic rays are all around us and arrive in showers of particles. Each detector will seem to randomly twinkle with colours and sounds that are triggered by cosmic rays.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Upgrade your Loxone with 16A SSR outputs
https://hackaday.io/project/25817-upgrade-your-loxone-with-16a-ssr-outputs
This short project is about upgrading the Loxone with solid state relay instead of the normal mechanical relay.
Description
I bought a Loxone and I am happy with the product. Good software, plenty possibilities and easy to use. But I hate the relay outputs. The click-clack sound is annoying. That was my main reason to replace the relay with solid state relay (SSR). SSR is a semiconductor part and has no moving parts. This is also the reason why a SSR will last longer than a normal mechanic relay. But because it’s a semiconductor, it’s more sensitive to ESD (electrostatic discharge). This will be solved by adding a varistor. So these are the advantages:
* Current output up to 16A
* No mechanical switching parts, the makes the SSR also better for environments with flammable gasses
* Zero crossing switching reduces signal noise
* Short switching time vs mechanic part
* No contact bouncing
* No sound from SSR.
Disadvantages:
* It’s not possible to switch a small analog signal. This is possible with a mechanical relay.
* The SSR can only handle the AC OR DC voltage it is made for.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Robot Solves Sudoku on Paper
http://hackaday.com/2017/07/10/robot-solves-sudoku-on-paper/
Sudoku is a great way to pass some time, especially on a long flight. However, we don’t think the airlines will let [Sanahm] board with his sudoku-solving robot. The basic machine looks like a 2D plotter made with aluminum extrusion, with the addition of a Raspberry Pi and a camera. The machine can read a sudoku puzzle, solve it, and then fill in the puzzle with a pen. Unlike humans, it should never need to erase its work.
The software uses OpenCV to process the camera data, find the grid, and the cells provided by the puzzle. TensorFlow recognizes the numbers. From there, it is all just math to solve the puzzle. Once solved, the plotter part of the robot takes over and fills in the blanks. After all that, this seems like the easy part.
A robot that solves and fills just alone, sudoku’ grids !
https://github.com/Sanahm/Sudoku-robot
Tomi Engdahl says:
Fidget Spinners Put The ‘S’ In STEAM Education
http://hackaday.com/2017/07/14/fidget-spinners-put-the-s-in-steam-education/
Centrifuges are vital to the study of medicine, chemistry, and biology. They’re vital tools to separate the wheat from the chaff figuratively, and DNA from saliva literally. Now, they’re fidget spinners. [Matlek] designed a fidget spinner that also functions as a simple lab centrifuge.
Lab Centrifuge Fidget Spinner
http://www.instructables.com/id/Lab-Centrifuge-Fidget-Spinner/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Fabricate Your Own Tabletop Gaming Props
http://hackaday.com/2017/07/14/fabricate-your-own-tabletop-gaming-props/
Delve into the mysterious world of tabletop roleplaying games. Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay, Shadowrun, Pathfinder, Ars Magica, Vampire, whatever gets your dice rollin’
As a person with access to a variety of CNC machines I find myself wanting to create things to make gameplay more fun. I want to build a scale castle and have a siege. I want to conduct a ship-to-ship battle with wooden ships built to scale. But I also think smaller. What is something I could make that would help us every day? Say, a box for dice. Not every project needs to be the dragon’s lair.
It turns out a lot of other folks have been thinking about the same thing.
Don’t discount the ultimate in modular gaming: the figure. Formerly made out of lead, in the foggy years before abatement occurred and we all switched to white metal. More recently we’ve started to see some quality plastic figures; some cast, some 3D-printed.
Skilled designers, of course, can simply create their own. However, we can’t all be good at everything. Services like Hero Forge guide you through creating your own figure, deciding on race, body dimensions, pose, equipment, and so on. Of course the company also is willing to print your figure for you in two different kinds of plastic, steel, or bronze, with prices ranging from $15 to $100 a figure. Weakly, they don’t allow you to download the design and print it yourself, though you can grab a PNG.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Microorganisms Can’t Hide From DropoScope
http://hackaday.com/2017/07/18/microorganisms-cant-hide-from-droposcope/
The DropoScope is a water-drop projector that works by projecting a laser through a drop of water, ideally dirty water crawling with microorganisms. With the right adjustments, a bright spot of light is projected onto a nearby wall, revealing a magnified image of the tiny animals within. Single celled organisms show up only as dark spots, but larger creatures like mosquito larvae exhibit definite structure and detail.
While simple in concept and requiring nothing more high-tech than a syringe and a laser pointer, getting useful results can require a lot of fiddly adjustment.
DropoScope
http://www.instructables.com/id/DropoScope/
DroposCcope is a simple microscope wich use drop of water as a lens. Image of organisms inside a water drop is projected on a screen using the laser.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Laser microscope projection
http://hackaday.com/2010/08/21/laser-microscope-projection/
Ok, we’ll start this off by saying, looking at lasers can damage your eyes. Be careful. Now that we’ve got that absolutely clear, we couldn’t help but find this super quick and dirty laser microscope fascinating. Basically, they are just pointing a laser through a drop of water suspended from the tip of a syringe. The image of the contents of the drop are projected on a nearby wall.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Hackaday Prize Entry: Disaster Recovery WiFi
http://hackaday.com/2017/07/20/hackaday-prize-entry-disaster-recovery-wifi/
The Meshpoint project originated in Croatia during the 2015 Syrian refugee crisis, when [Valent Turkovic] and other volunteers noticed that first responders, including NGOs like Greenpeace and the Red Cross, often struggled to set up communications in the field. They came to the conclusion that they couldn’t rely on the normal communications infrastructure because it was either damaged or overloaded.
The solution is a net of open source, autonomous WiFi mesh routers, scalable from a single team to serving thousands of people. Responders who won’t have time for a difficult login process, should find setup as easy as signing in to a social media site.
MeshPoint – wifi router for humanitarian crisis
https://hackaday.io/project/10453-meshpoint-wifi-router-for-humanitarian-crisis
Autonomous, smart, wifi mesh router which is easy to use by humanitarian NGO first responders during humanitarian or natural disasters.
Tomi Engdahl says:
DIY USB Spectrometer Actually Works
http://hackaday.com/2014/07/31/diy-usb-spectrometer-actually-works/
When we hear spectrometer, we usually think of some piece of high-end test equipment sitting in a CSI lab. Sure, a hacker could make one if he or she put their mind to it. But make one out of a webcam, some cheap diffraction grating purchased off ebay and some scrap? Surely not.
[Renaud] pulls off this MacGyver like build with a detailed knowledge of how spectrometers work. A diffraction grating is used to split the incoming light into its component wavelengths. Much like a prism would. The wavelengths then make their way through a slit, which [Renaud] made from two pieces of highly polished brass, so the webcam sensor can see a specific wavelength. While the spectrometer-from-webcam concept isn’t new, the build is still impressive.
USB Spectrometer
http://renaud.schleck.free.fr/spectrometre.php
The spectrometer uses a diffraction grating to split the different spectral components of the incident light.
The incident light goes through a narrow slit located in the focal plane of a converging lens which produces a beam of parallel rays for each point of the slit.
The produced passes through a diffraction grating which deviates each wavelength differently. Each wavelength produces a parallel beam in a different direction
Finally the webcam lens converges each spectral component on a particular point of the sensor located in its focal plane (the webcam is focused at infinity)
Tomi Engdahl says:
Push Button, Receive Beverage!
http://hackaday.com/2017/07/21/push-button-receive-beverage/
Here’s a rec-room ready hack: an automatic drink dispenser.
[truebassB]’s dispenser operates around a 555 timer, adjusted by a potentiometer. Push a button and a cup pours in a few seconds, or hold the other button to dispense as much as you want.
a pair of momentary switches, a 12V micro air pump, a brass nozzle, food-safe pvc tube, a custom 555 timing circuit
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=poGY8TQsme8&feature=youtu.be
Tomi Engdahl says:
Hackaday’s Assistive Technology Challenge Begins Now
http://hackaday.com/2017/07/24/hackadays-assistive-technology-challenge-begins-now/
This morning marks a new challenge in the Hackaday Prize: we want to see what you can do with Assistive Technology. Twenty entries will win $1000 each, becoming part of the final round for a chance at the top prizes ranging from $5,000 to $50,000.
Assistive Technology means things that help people by improving their quality of life. This can take so many forms but broadly speaking this could make aging easier, turn disabilities into abilities, or enhance the access and delivery of health care.
Assistive technologies
https://hackaday.io/prize/details#four
Tomi Engdahl says:
USB TinyTracker
A USB-flash sized GSM/GPS tracker with a wide array of features
https://hackaday.io/project/25211-usb-tinytracker
The USB TinyTracker is meant to be simple in it’s use by plugging into any USB port or USB powerbank. It features a 32-bit 48MHz Atmel ATSAM processor, GSM 2G modem (TCP/UDP/PPP/HTTP/FTP/SSL), a highly sensitive GPS receiver, a 9DOF MPU9250 motion sensor, barometer, micro-SD slot, nano-SIM slot, a microphone, and integrated GSM and GPS antennas.
The module can be used for a wide array of anti-theft applications, rogue BTS scanning, data gathering (to the SD card or the cloud), vehicle tracking, asset tracking and so on. Programming can be done with Arduino IDE and the software will be open-source.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Low cost 6DOF Robotic arm
Servo based robot arm
https://hackaday.io/project/25895-low-cost-6dof-robotic-arm
This is a low cost robotic arm with 6 axis that you can build with analog servo motors. (I personaly used digital servos from hitec, they are more controlled by the end stops because it isn’t mechanicaly anymore) It also has a neopixel head and there is a simple mechanism to exchange different toolheads on it.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Robot Building Kit and Development Environment
https://hackaday.io/project/26043-robot-building-kit-and-development-environment
An open-source robot developing environment that helps inventors build low-cost robots without having to start from scratch.
This platform is easily adaptable for a wide variety of robot designs including those with wheels and walkers with multiple segments. The basic elements are Ethernet PCBs (the nerves of the robot), motors and linear actuators (the muscles), and on the software side a Robot App written in C running on Linux (“RT PREEMPT” for real-time), MacOS, or Windows, that allows real-time recording of sensor samples, and a scripting language with simple instructions to move body segments into a target angle range and hold the segment in that angle range. Using simple scripts, complex multi-segment/multi-wheel motions can be easily achieved.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Simple Shop-made Taps for Threading Wood
http://hackaday.com/2017/07/24/simple-shop-made-taps-for-threading-wood/
Wood can be the material of choice for many kinds of projects, but it often falls out of the running in favor of metal or plastic if it needs to take a threaded fastener. But with a little ingenuity you can make your own wood taps and cut threads that will perform great.
Making wood thread taps
http://woodgears.ca/thread_taps/
You can use metal thread taps for wood just fine, but I wanted to experiment with making my own from a piece of threaded rod.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Review: TS100 Soldering Iron
http://hackaday.com/2017/07/24/review-ts100-soldering-iron/
Temperature-controlled soldering irons can be cheap, lightweight, and good. Pick any two of those attributes when you choose an iron, because you’ll never have all three. You might believe that this adage represents a cast-iron rule, no iron could possibly combine all three to make a lightweight high-performance tool that won’t break the bank! And until fairly recently you’d have had a point, but perhaps there is now a contender that could achieve that impossible feat.
The Miniware TS100 is a relatively inexpensive temperature-controlled soldering iron from China that has made a stealthy entry to the market, and which some online commentators claim to be the equal of far more expensive professional-grade irons. We parted with just below £50 (around $60) to place an order for a TS100,
There was no power supply, you supply your own 12 to 24 V DC to power it.
Assembling the iron is simple enough, the element slots into the receptacle and an Allen screw is tightened to hold it in place. The whole assembled unit weighs 30 g, or a shade over an ounce, and has a balance point almost at its centre.
We used a 19.5 V netbook supply which was far more than capable of delivering the 40 W the instruction leaflet claims for the iron at 19 V. Maximum power is given as 65 W when supplied with 24 V, while minimum is 17 W with 12 V.
Heating up, the TS100 may not be as quick as some irons, but it’s no slouch. It’s quoted as 15 seconds to 300 Celsius at 19 volts in its instruction leaflet, and our iron certainly didn’t disappoint.
We found the iron perfectly easy to use, but with one caveat: the stock bit is a pencil tip, type “B2” that is fine for the larger surface mount devices but which would in our opinion probably be a little unwieldy for anything smaller than an 0805.
One of the features of the TS100 is that its firmware can be easily upgraded over USB, and to that end it is easy to download the latest version and install it.
Fortunately the TS100 is not one of those devices that is easily bricked by a failed firmware upgrade
After having the TS100 for a few weeks, what’s our verdict? Is it a good iron
If you spend a four-figure sum on a soldering station, you will find yourself with an iron that is lighter than the TS100, it will have a shorter reach, a quicker warm-up time, better software control, more available bits, in fact it will beat the TS100 in every way possible.
If however you spend a low three-figure sum on a soldering station from a quality manufacturer, you’ll get something closer.
It’s worth pointing out here that the TS100 firmware is billed as open-source, and that the code and schematics are available from the link above. We say billed as open-source though, because while the code is officially freely available it does not seem to be accompanied by any form of open-source licence. This may be of more concern to software libre purists than many readers, but still, it is worth mentioning.
Material Download for TS100 mini Soldering Iron
[Firmware update] Material Download for TS100 mini Soldering Iron
http://www.minidso.com/forum.php?mod=viewthread&tid=892&extra=page%3D1
Tomi Engdahl says:
Look Over Yonder with a Distant Object Detector
https://www.designnews.com/gadget-freak/look-over-yonder-distant-object-detector/98398416257114
Building a security system? Robot? Or maybe you’re just curious what’s out there. Gadget Freak Sajjad Haidar shows you how to build your own distance object detection system.
There are several different ways a remotely (10s of meters or 100s of meters) located object can be detected, or the object’s presence or absence can be ensured:
Sending ultrasonic sound and receiving the reflected sound from the object. Principle used: Time of Flight measurement or TOF
Sending laser or LED light and detecting the reflected light from the object. Principle used: Time of Flight measurement or TOF.
Using a CCD camera, comparing successive images. If there is any discrepancy between two images, there could be something wrong with the object.
Sending pulsed laser light (visible or IR), and detecting the scattered light from the object by lock-in amplification.
There are other methods as well. Each of the above methods mentioned, have some advantages and disadvantages. Considering several factors I decided to work on a project based on the 4 th category. The basic block diagram of the project is shown
An oscillator (~2.1 kHz) drives a laser diode (LD) through a suitable driver and a LD protection circuit. The pulsed laser light is positioned to shine on a part of the remote object of interest. The faint scattered light is detected by a phototransistor, fitted with a 15-cm-long metal pipe (dia. ~5mm).
The signal is then applied to one input of a balanced modulator (AD630). The other input of the balanced modulator (also called the reference input) is fed with the delayed original oscillator signal, driving the LD. At the output of the balanced modulator, a DC level is obtained which is proportional to the signal detected at the photo transistor. Any unwanted signal or noise will be eliminated to a large extent by this balanced modulator. This technique of extracting signal also called lock-in-detection.
The LD used here, is a cheap laser pointer diode with the existing lens of the pointer. While using an LD in pulsed operation, we have to consider its protection as well. Resistor R2 (87 ohms) is used to limit the current within the safe level of ~ 40 mA.
At the receiving end, the phototransistor detector output is amplified and filtered, these circuits also introduced some delay. To match with the delayed pulses the reference signal also needs to be delayed. The pulse delay circuit is implemented by an IC, LTC6994. The amount of delay can be adjusted by a 150K pot (R9).
The heart of the detecting system is a balanced modulator, implemented by IC-AD630 and is shown in Fig.8. AD630 has two inputs, we can name one a signal input and other a reference input.
The balanced modulator (AD630) actually multiplies the two input signals and the multiplied result is produced at the output. Only the two signals of exact frequency and phase will produce a DC output, others will cancel out. That is why lock-in detection is a good technique to detect only our desired signal, though very weak in nature.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Play FPGA like Arduino
You can make a Lego Monster Truck out of it!
https://hackaday.io/project/20493-play-fpga-like-arduino
Over the past 10 years, FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array) device has grown into main stream, with its capacity surging and the unit cost dropping. Instead of using a hardcore MCU, embedding a soft-core MCU into FPGA, with all the peripherals customized, is now within the reach of makers. And that’s where PulseRain M10 comes into play, an open source design down to the silicon level!
The M10 board takes a distinctive technical approach by embedding an open source soft MCU core (96MHz) into an Intel MAX10 FPGA, while offering an Arduino compatible software interface and form factors. Introducing M10 board into the maker market will bring flexibility and expandability that current solutions (Raspberry Pi and Arduino) cannot offer.
The M10 board can serve as a core module and easily morph into various cool things. For starters, you can build a Lego Monster Truck out of it!
Tomi Engdahl says:
QUATTRO – The Arduino Quadruped
Say hello to Quattro, a fully functional,non lethal Arduino quadruped robot!
https://hackaday.io/project/26005-quattro-the-arduino-quadruped
Tomi Engdahl says:
YAUVC – Yet Another Unmanned Vehicle Controller
https://hackaday.io/project/11724-yauvc-yet-another-unmanned-vehicle-controller
A modular, distributed processing, unmanned vehicle
controller.
Tomi Engdahl says:
OURTicket
Open, Universal, Reliable Transport Ticketing.
https://hackaday.io/project/1812-ourticket
Since living in Melbourne, many have been frustrated at the lack of improvement and inherent design flaws in the smartcard ticketing system that the local government has rolled out over the last few years.
This project promises to implement an independent solution to these issues by releasing an open source, easy to use, hardware and software (web) framework, that will deliver a complete smart ticketing system for new (and possibly existing) deployments (not limited to transportation).
OURTicket aims to be completely open, with future scope for exhaustive customisation options.
The main focus of this project was originally to create a multipurpose ticketing system utilising as many open source tools as possible. This could be used in any way for things such as event management, transportation, space travel etc. To reduce the scope I have decided to create a modular system that first focused on transportation, but could be modified easily to perform other tasks. For the purposes of the Hackaday Prize, only the card reader hardware, database connectivity and simple zone management (GIS web service) will be implemented. This working proof of concept will enable further development as time goes on.
Components
2 × Raspberry Pi Model B While this has been chosen for the prototype, the focus is on interface design and the end result will be hardware agnostic.
2 × EXPLORE-NFC Board (NXP PN512) This is used for the prototype. Before the end of the competition a hardware interface board will be designed to accomodate mulitple devices (GPIO/NFC/LED status/sound/serial connectivity for things like proximity detector/RTC/FRAM).
1 × Fujitsu MB85RC128APNF-G-JNE1 FRAM – Ferroelectric RAM for temporary transaction queue storage
1 × Microchip MCP7940N or Maxim DS1307 Real time clock
1 × NXP PCA9531PW LED Controller
Tomi Engdahl says:
Make A Bit Of Cloth With This 3D Printable Loom
http://hackaday.com/2017/07/25/make-a-bit-of-cloth-with-this-3d-printable-loom/
When the hackspace where this is being written created their textile room, a member who had previously been known only for her other work unexpectedly revealed herself to be a weaver, and offered the loan of a table-top loom. When set up, it provided an introduction to the art of weaving for the members of all different interests and backgrounds, and many of them have been found laying down a few lines of weft. It’s a simple yet compelling piece of making which captivates even people who might never have considered themselves interested in textiles.
If you are not lucky enough to have a friendly hackspace member with a spare loom when you wish to try your hand at weaving, you may be interested in this Thingiverse project, a 3D printable rigid heddle loom.
Rigid Heddle Loom
https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2449174
This basic rigid heddle loom design incorporates 22mm diameter PVC pipe and two 3mm x 12mm bolts and accompanying hex nuts for the cogs and pawls.
The heddle is approximately 400mm wide.
Tomi Engdahl says:
The Most Straightforward Wind Turbine
http://hackaday.com/2017/07/26/the-most-straightforward-wind-turbine/
We can all use a little more green energy in our lives at home. So when [ahmedebeed555] — a fan of wind power — ran into durability troubles with his previous home-built turbine, he revised it to be simpler than ever to build.
Outside of the DC generator motor, the rest of the turbine is made from recycled parts: a sponge mop sans sponge, a piece from an old CD drive case acting as a rudder, the blades from a scrapped fan, and a plastic bottle to protect the motor from the elements. Attach the fan to the motor and form the plastic bottle around the motor using — what else? — a soldering iron. Don’t forget a respirator for this step, folks.
TurbineOne V2 : Super Simple Wind Turbine You Can Make Now
http://www.instructables.com/id/TurbineOne-V2-Super-Simple-Wind-Turbine-You-Can-Ma/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Measuring Air Flow with Ultrasonic Sensors
http://hackaday.com/2017/07/26/measuring-air-flow-with-ultrasonic-sensors/
Measuring air flow in an HVAC duct can be a tricky business. Paddle wheel and turbine flow meters introduce not only resistance but maintenance issue due to accumulated dust and debris. Being able to measure ducted airflow cheaply and non-intrusively, like with this ultrasonic flow meter, could be a big deal for DIY projects and the trades in general.
The principle behind the sensor [ItMightBeWorse] is working on is nothing new. He discovered a paper from 2015 that describes the method that measures the change in time-of-flight of an ultrasonic pulse across a moving stream of air in a duct
[ItMightBeWorse] is using readily available HC-SR04 sensor boards and has already done a proof-of-concept build.
Building homemade ultrasonic air flow measurement device.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BNTSSxzm1GM
Tomi Engdahl says:
Portable Stir-Fry Range
http://hackaday.com/2017/07/30/portable-stir-fry-range/
If you love a good stir-fry, you know that it can be a challenge to make on your stove at home. Engineer gourmet and Youtuber [Alex French Guy Cooking], in collaboration with [Make:], whipped up a portable range capable of making delectable stir-fry.
There are three major problems when it comes to cooking stir-fry: woks are typically unstable on normal burners, those burners don’t tend to heat from a center point out, and they usually aren’t hot enough. [Alex]’s 12,000BTU portable stove is great for regular applications, but doesn’t cut it when it comes to making an authentic stir-fry.
Alex’s 22,200 BTU Portable Wok Range
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VfxkrrndtMQ&feature=youtu.be
Tomi Engdahl says:
Two Leg Robot
An open-source robot that helps makers build low-cost robots without having to start from scratch.
https://hackaday.io/project/26021-two-leg-robot
Tomi Engdahl says:
Hackaday Prize Entry: 18-DOF Hexaopod Aiming to Float
http://hackaday.com/2017/07/30/hackaday-prize-entry-18-dof-hexaopod-aiming-to-float/
[Ken Conrad] didn’t like spiderbot projects he saw on the Internet: they mostly had 2 degrees of freedom per leg—if not fewer. He set out to make a hexapod robot with 18 DOF and the ability to move in any direction. Measuring around 20” from tip to tip, the custom, 3D-printed chassis was designed around eighteen SG90 9g micro servos. Each leg has 3 servos, one to move the tip, one for the middle, and one to move the entire leg back and forth, crab-style.
18 DOF High-Flotation Hexapod Robot
https://hackaday.io/project/10131-18-dof-high-flotation-hexapod-robot
Six legs, 18 servos, with optional high-flotation mode. My first project that combined robotics and 3D printing.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Stealing Joules From An Aluminium-Air Battery
http://hackaday.com/2017/07/28/stealing-joules-from-an-aluminium-air-battery/
While batteries are cheap and readily obtainable today, sometimes it’s still fun to mess around with their less-common manifestations. Experimenting with a few configurations, Hackaday.io user [will.stevens] has assembled an aluminium-air battery and combined it with a joule thief to light an LED.
To build the air battery, soak an activated charcoal puck — from a water filter, for example — in salt-saturated water while you cut the base off an aluminium can. A circle of tissue paper — also saturated with the salt water — is pressed between the bare charcoal disk and the can, taking care not to rip the paper, and topped off with a penny and a bit of wire. Once clamped together, the reaction is able to power an LED via a simple joule thief.
Aluminium powered joule thief
A joule thief powered by an easy-to-make aluminium air cell.
https://hackaday.io/project/25751-aluminium-powered-joule-thief#menu-description
Tomi Engdahl says:
Edge-lit Pendants Show Two Layers are Better Than One
http://hackaday.com/2017/07/28/edge-lit-pendants-show-two-layers-are-better-than-one/
http://www.instructables.com/id/Edge-Lit-RGB-Acrylic-Laser-Cut-Pendant/
Tomi Engdahl says:
These Twenty Wheels, Wings, and Walkers Won $1000 In The Hackaday Prize
http://hackaday.com/2017/07/31/these-twenty-wheels-wings-and-walkers-won-1000-in-the-hackaday-prize/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Entries for the “Flashing Light Prize 2017″
https://hackaday.io/project/26191-entries-for-the-flashing-light-prize-2017
“Flashing Light Prize 2017″ is an informal & fun contest to make a light bulb flashing in the most craziest ways
Your creation could be something ridiculous and zany using bits of string and magnets or it could be a brilliantly elegant circuit topology that’s never been tried before. It could be electronic, electromechanical, electrochemical, anything legal. All it’s got to do is flash an incandescent bulb at between 0.5Hz and 2Hz. You even get to choose what kind of incandescent bulb to use.
Contest page: https://www.flashinglightprize.com/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Coil motor 2017 , how to make DC motor using coil step by step
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Fax_vy2VV8
Coil motor 2017 , how to make DC motor using coil step by step
Tomi Engdahl says:
DIY BLDC Axial motor – multipole flat coil test
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HQxmj-UGb6A
Test of coil that is very simple to manufacture for use in axial motors
DIY 3 phase axial motor 80% efficiency!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SvxFdLKZU-8
Each coil is 12 turns of wire.
ESC: Hobbywing “20A”
Tomi Engdahl says:
MoRaLiS: Modular Rail Lighting System
https://hackaday.io/project/20653-moralis-modular-rail-lighting-system
A very affordable lighting system that can be used as efficient grow lights for indoor plants and customizable ambient lighting.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Linux CNC Mill
A CNC Milling Project using the LinuxCNC software and Nema 34 Stepper Motors
https://hackaday.io/project/8970-linux-cnc-mill
Tomi Engdahl says:
Musical DC-Motor
Music on a DC Motor, tone generation through Motor RPM
https://hackaday.io/project/10757-musical-dc-motor
Using a stepper motor to generate music is quite popular. I wanted to try out a different approach: driving a DC motor at different voltages. The different rotation speeds of the motor correspond to different notes.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Make Hand Blender at home
https://www.eeweb.com/project/make-hand-blender-at-home
Making a hand blender with some basic materials is an excellent idea in which it provides a opportunity to those individuals who don’t have blenders at home. This project features a DIY hand blender making used of a plastic container and a bottle as part of its physical design and drive by a 12V DC motor.
How to Make Hand Blender at home
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tObL9wAu4FE
Learn how to make mixer grinder or hand blender or mini hand mixer grinder machine using material like plastic bottle, plastic container and 12 volt DC motor. Almost material you can find from home or junkyard.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Mini energy generator, how to make a generator at home very easy
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C4RrSggObyk
Mini energy generator, how to make a generator at home very easy
How to Make Powerful Water Pump – Wonderful Home Made Pump
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MM8NtGEUg5E
Tomi Engdahl says:
DIY Wind Turbine for Free Energy
http://hackaday.com/2017/08/03/diy-wind-turbine-for-free-energy/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R8ykPkzupQY