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.
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Tomi Engdahl says:
Mini-Banners for Small Occasions
https://hackaday.com/2017/09/14/mini-banners-for-small-occasions/
The hack is simple – ImageMagick is used to generate a one-bit black & white bitmap that is then processed with some custom C code to generate something the printer can understand. It’s then a simple matter of hacking up the original RS-232 cable to fit a DB-9 (aka DE-9) connector, and spitting out the instructions over serial.
Hack a receipt printer to print mini-banners
https://www.confidantmail.org/wordpress/index.php/2017/09/09/hack-a-receipt-printer-to-print-mini-banners/
Print Shop was one of the most popular software programs of the 1980s. Among other things, it could print long banners with a dot-matrix printer. These banners were 8 ½ inches wide, and were too big for many purposes. This project prints three-inch wide banners using a credit card receipt printer and continuous roll paper. It can print one or two lines using any TrueType font.
Tomi Engdahl says:
What’s the Best Way to Learn Electronics?
https://hackaday.com/2017/09/14/whats-the-best-way-to-learn-electronics/
What’s the best way to learn electronics? It’s a pithy question to ask a Hackaday audience, most of whom are at least conversant in the field already. Those who already have learned often have just their own perspective to draw upon—how they themselves learned. Some of you may have taught others. I want to explore what works and what doesn’t.
Hobbyists Learn Differently Than Students
One thing I can say straight off is that students learn differently than people who learn at home. Hobbyists have the advantage of actually being interested, which is a quality a student may not enjoy. People have been teaching themselves electronics since the beginning, with analog projects–Heathkit models, BEAM robots, and ham radio sets–evolving into purely digital projects.
Let’s face it, Arduinos lower the bar like nothing else. There’s a reason why the Blink sketch has become the equivalent to “Hello World”. Dirt cheap and easily configured microcontrollers combined with breakout boards make it easy for anyone to participate.
However, ask any true EE and that person will tell you that following wiring diagrams and plugging in sensor boards from Sparkfun only teaches so much.
If you are truly interested in electronics and learn by making those Adafruit or Sparkfun projects, sooner or later you’ll want to make your own breakout boards. You’ll learn how to design your own circuit boards and figure out why things work and why they don’t.
What’s the Best Way to Learn in the Classroom?
There is a product category within robotics kits that consists of “educational rovers” designed to be purchased in group lots by teachers so that each student or small group gets one. These rovers are either pre-built or mostly built
I once led a soldering class that used Blinky Grids by Wayne and Layne as the focus. This is a fantastic kit that guides you through building a small LED matrix. It’s particularly cool because it can be programmed over a computer monitor with light sensors interacting with white and black squares on the company’s web site.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Hackaday Prize Entry: A PCB To Emulate Coin Cells
https://hackaday.com/2017/09/18/hackaday-prize-entry-a-pcb-to-emulate-coin-cells/
The Coin Cell Emulator CR2016/CR2032 by [bobricius] homes in on a problem some hardware developers don’t realize they have: when working on hardware powered by the near-ubiquitous CR2016 or CR2032 format 3V coin cells, power can be a bit troublesome. Either the device is kept fed with coin cells as needed during development, or the developer installs some breakout wires to provide power from a more convenient source.
[bobricius]’s solution to all this is a small PCB designed to be inserted into most coin cell holders just like the cell itself. It integrates a micro USB connector with a 3V regulator for using USB as an external power source.
Coin cell battery emulator CR2016/CR2032
https://hackaday.io/project/26896-coin-cell-battery-emulator-cr2016cr2032
Disappointed purchasing new batteries for development?
Do you need measure current and consumption of your device?
Tomi Engdahl says:
Need a Night-Light?
https://hackaday.com/2017/09/19/need-a-night-light/
Hurricane Hack – DIY LED Candle
https://www.swharden.com/wp/2017-09-09-hurricane-hack-diy-led-candle/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Wind Chimes and Dry Ice Make an Unusual Musical Instrument
https://hackaday.com/2017/09/19/wind-chimes-and-dry-ice-make-an-unusual-musical-instrument/
When it comes to making music, there are really only a few ways to create the tones needed — pluck something, blow into something, or hit something. But where does that leave this dry-ice powered organ that recreates tunes with wind chimes and blocks of solid CO2?
Robot to Make Cool Music With Dry Ice!
http://www.instructables.com/id/Build-a-Robot-That-Makes-Cool-Music-With-Dry-Ice/
Tomi Engdahl says:
RPM9001 – Rapid Prototyping Machine
CNC machine with swapable tool heads for rapid prototyping, built as inexpensive as possible.
https://hackaday.io/project/27232-rpm9001-rapid-prototyping-machine
This is my atempt to build an inexpensive and precise multi purpose cnc machine. It’s a CoreXY design with many 3d printed parts and generic electronics, smooth rods, bearings etc. Without any tools (laser, mill…) the frame itself costs less than 200$ to build.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Autonomous Humanoid Leg
Dynamic, adaptive control systems for real-world robots
https://hackaday.io/project/27287-autonomous-humanoid-leg
Tomi Engdahl says:
Knitting ALUs (and Flipdots)
https://hackaday.com/2017/09/20/knitting-alus-and-flipdots/
Tomi Engdahl says:
The Narrowing Gap Between Amateur and Professional Fabrication
https://hackaday.com/2017/09/20/the-narrowing-gap-between-amateur-and-professional-fabrication/
Haz Bridgeport, Will Mill
Sometimes it’s just a matter of getting a hold of the equipment. If you need a Bridgeport mill for your project, and you don’t have one, you have to pay for someone else to make the thing — no matter how simple. You’re paying for the operator’s education and expertise, as well as helping pay for the maintenance and support of the hardware and the shop it’s housed in.
I once worked in a packaging shop, and around 2004 we got in a prototype to use in developing the product box. This prototype was 3D printed and I was told it cost $12,000 to make. For the era it was mind blowing. The part itself was simplistic and few folks on Thingiverse circa 2017 would be impressed; the print quality was roughly on par with a Makerbot Cupcake. But because the company didn’t have a 3D printer, they had to pay someone who owned one a ton of cash to make the thing they wanted.
Unparalleled Access to Formerly Professional-Only Tools
But access to high end tools has never been easier. Hackerspaces and tool libraries alone have revolutionized what it means to have access to those machines. There are four or five Bridgeports (or similar vertical mills) at my hackerspace and I believe they were all donated. For the cost of membership, plus the time to get trained in and checked out, you can mill that part for cheap. Repeat with above-average 3D printers, CNC mills, vinyl cutters, lasers.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Fun-Size Geiger Counter Sits atop a 9-Volt Battery
https://hackaday.com/2017/09/20/fun-size-geiger-counter-sits-atop-a-9-volt-battery/
Want a little heads-up before walking into a potentially dangerous radioactive area? Sure, we all do. But the typical surplus Civil Defense Geiger counter is just too bulky to fit into the sleek, modern every-day carry of the smartphone age. So why not slim down your first line of defense against achieving mutant status with this tiny Geiger counter?
We jest about the use cases for a personal-sized Geiger counter, as [Ian King]’s inspiration for this miniaturized build was based more on a fascination with quantifying the unseen world around us.
https://www.facebook.com/ultraputerfunteim/posts/10214045067339102
Tomi Engdahl says:
Pulleys within Pulleys form a Unique Transmission for Robots
https://hackaday.com/2017/09/25/pulleys-within-pulleys-form-a-unique-transmission-for-robots/
After a couple of millennia of fiddling with gears, you’d think there wouldn’t be much new ground to explore in the field of power transmission. And then you see something like an infinitely variable transmission built from nested pulleys, and you realize there’s always room for improvement.
The electric motors generally used in robotics can be extremely efficient, often topping 90% efficiency at high speed and low torque. Slap on a traditional fixed-ratio gearbox, or change the input speed, and efficiency is lost. An infinitely variable transmission, like [Alexander Kernbaum]’s cleverly named Inception Drive, allows the motor to stay at peak efficiency while smoothly changing the gear ratio through a wide range.
Inception Drive: A Compact, Infinitely Variable Transmission for Robotics
https://spectrum.ieee.org/automaton/robotics/robotics-hardware/inception-drive-a-compact-infinitely-variable-transmission-for-robotics
SRI’s ultracompact Inception Drive transmission is small enough to replace fixed-ratio transmissions in robots, where it could potentially cut energy consumption in half
Tomi Engdahl says:
Hackaday Prize Entry: OrthoSense, a Smart Knee Brace for Physical Therapy
https://hackaday.com/2017/09/25/hackaday-prize-entry-orthosense-a-smart-knee-brace-for-physical-therapy/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Smart Composting System
A set of senors and actuators that make composting simple.
https://hackaday.io/project/24933-smart-composting-system
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The 2017 Hackaday Prize
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This project was created on 05/26/2017 and last updated 3 hours ago.
Description
Per the EPA, food scraps & yard waste currently make up 20-30% of what we throw away, and should be composted instead. Making compost keeps these materials out of landfills, where they release methane, a potent greenhouse gas.
Atmospheric levels of methane are spiking. This is cause for alarm among global warming scientists because methane emissions warm the planet by more than 20X similar volumes of CO2.
Unfortunately, most do not compost – typically due to ignorance on the benefits of composting, misunderstanding of what can be added to compost, and lack of desire to manage compost.
I am building a smart system that makes it easier to compost. The system will:
- Monitor temperature, moisture, and methane output to automatically regulate the compost (add water or air)
- Make recommendation on types of products to add to compost (more “green” or “brown” items)
- Provide alerts when the compost is ready or when additional user action is needed
The Smart Compost system is made up of three components
Satellite Sensor Station – an Arduino powered device that is connected to the compost pile and measures ambient temperature, compost temperature, soil moisture, and methane gas output. Based on the sensors, the sensor station can add water to the compost or open/close air vents. Communication to the sensor station is via LoRa radio.
Base Station – a Intel Edison or Raspberry Pi device that persists the sensor data and provides a dashboard. The Base station also uses the sensor logic to make recommendations to the user on actions needed. The base station would be connected to an small kitchen “scraps” holder (like this) with an LED indicator that gives status of the compost.
“Can I Compost” home device – an Alexa or Google Home program that (a) tells the user what can be composted and (b) what should be composted (based on the user’s compost composition)
Tomi Engdahl says:
BeamCNC: Computer-Controlled Construction System Mill
https://hackaday.com/2017/09/27/beamcnc-computer-controlled-construction-system-mill/
Need to make something quick and dirty out of wooden beams, and want to use elements you know will work together? BeamCNC is a mobile assembly of stepper-controlled rollers and a router that sucks a 2×2 through it and drills the holes in pre-programmed intervals. Currently being developed as part of an Indiegogo campaign currently in preview, its creator [Vladislav Lunachev] has declared it open source hardware. It’s essentially a CNC mill that makes Grid Beam, a classic DIY building set that resembles Meccano, Erector, and other classic sets, only made full-scale for larger projects. While BeamCNC is not affiliated with Grid Beam, it takes the same general idea and automates it.
BeamCNC – affordable construction system CNC
Transform lumber and aluminum square tubes into a modular system of building blocks.
https://www.indiegogo.com/project/preview/1f6fb209/#/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Mini Drill Made From a Motor
https://hackaday.com/2017/09/28/mini-drill-made-from-a-motor/
We love this hacked-together mini drill by [BuenaTec] that uses a DC7.2V 10K-RPM motor with a 1/8” Dremel chuck added on. Power is supplied by a USB-A cable with the data wires cut off, with a switch controlling the voltage and a rectifier diode protecting the USB port or battery pack from back voltage from the motor.
DIY Mini USB Drill
http://www.instructables.com/id/DIY-Mini-USB-Drill/
A USB drill is a very useful and must have tool for every hobbyists. In this Intructable, i decided to make a DIY mini USB drill that can be easily made at home by anyone just with very few components. This Mini USB drill is useful for drilling PCB boards, bakelite, cardboards and wood. The USB drill can be powered by any USB mobile charger or a mobile powerbank.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Laser-Cut Modular Toolbox
https://hackaday.com/2017/09/28/laser-cut-modular-toolbox/
[ystoelen] created this modular wooden toolbox out of laser-cut 5mm plywood secured with leather hinges bolted into place. The leather strips secure the various tool boards with grommets connecting to plastic plugs.
Modular Multiplex Toolbox
http://www.instructables.com/id/Modular-Multiplex-Toolbox-Lasercut/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Hand-Carving Geometric Art
https://hackaday.com/2017/09/29/hand-carving-geometric-art/
[Scott Cramer] is a retired professional woodworker who specializes in geometric art made from beautifully joined wood. In this project he’s carving four interlocked cloverleaf rings from a block of basswood. First he made a series of cuts to turn the block into a cuboctahedron, a geometric solid comprising six squares and eight triangles. Then he drew on the basic lines of the rings on the wood and went to work with a chisel, smoothing and separating the rings and carving out the interior. You can see more shots of the project on his Facebook post, which is included after the break.
https://www.facebook.com/scraminator/posts/10155892163335209
Tomi Engdahl says:
Smooth and Steady Cuts with an Improvised Power Feeder
https://hackaday.com/2017/09/26/smooth-and-steady-cuts-with-an-improvised-power-feeder/
Some woodworking operations require stock to be fed at a smooth, steady rate, for which purpose a power feeder is usually employed. They’re expensive bits of gear, though, and their cost can usually be borne only by high-output production shops. But when you need one, you need one, and hacking a power feeder from a drill and a skate wheel is a viable option.
Homemade power feeder
http://woodgears.ca/machinery/power_feeder.html
Tomi Engdahl says:
BeamCNC: Computer-Controlled Construction System Mill
https://hackaday.com/2017/09/27/beamcnc-computer-controlled-construction-system-mill/
Need to make something quick and dirty out of wooden beams, and want to use elements you know will work together? BeamCNC is a mobile assembly of stepper-controlled rollers and a router that sucks a 2×2 through it and drills the holes in pre-programmed intervals. Currently being developed as part of an Indiegogo campaign currently in preview, its creator [Vladislav Lunachev] has declared it open source hardware. It’s essentially a CNC mill that makes Grid Beam, a classic DIY building set that resembles Meccano, Erector, and other classic sets, only made full-scale for larger projects. While BeamCNC is not affiliated with Grid Beam, it takes the same general idea and automates it.
https://www.indiegogo.com/project/preview/1f6fb209/#/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Hackaday Prize Entry: TooWheels, The Open Source Wheelchair
https://hackaday.com/2017/09/27/hackaday-prize-entry-toowheels-the-open-source-wheelchair/
The Assistive Technology challenge of the Hackaday Prize received a large number of projects addressing many socially relevant problems. Mobility and transportation needs are a big challenge for those with limb disabilities. Not every country has proper, state-subsidised health care systems, and for many people in third world countries, devices such as wheel chairs are just not affordable. [Alessio Fabrizio] and his team developed TooWheels — an Open Source DIY wheelchair which can be customized and built using low-cost, local materials around the world and is one of the winners of the Assistive Technologies challenge round.
https://hackaday.io/project/25757-toowheels-the-opensource-wheelchair
Tomi Engdahl says:
Hackaday Prize Entry: Hand Tremor Suppression Wearable Device
https://hackaday.com/2017/10/01/hackaday-prize-entry-hand-tremor-suppression-wearable-device/
It is extremely distressing to watch someone succumb to an uncontrollable hand tremor. Simple tasks become frustrating and impossible, and a person previously capable becomes frail and vulnerable.
An entry from [Basian Lesi] in this year’s Hackaday Prize aims to tackle hand tremors, and it takes the form of a wearable device that tries to correct the tremors by applying small electrical stimuli in response to the motion it senses from its built-in accelerometer. At its heart is an ATMega328p microcontroller and an MPU6050 accelerometer chip, and the prototype is shown using a piece of stripboard mounted in a 3D-printed box. It’s still in development and testing, but they have posted a video showing impressive results that you can see below the break, claiming an 85% reduction in tremors.
Hand Tremor Suppression Wearable Device
https://hackaday.io/project/26948-hand-tremor-suppression-wearable-device
We propose an innovative medical wearable device to assist people who suffer from hand tremor (Parkinson’s Disease, Essential Tremor etc).
Tomi Engdahl says:
Open Radiation Detector
https://hackaday.io/project/27508-open-radiation-detector
Quickly identify radioactive materials with a pocket-sized ion chamber. Built from standard parts for easy manufacture and low cost.
Nuclear radiation is invisible and can be harmful to life. The goal of this project is to provide a simple device that could prevent cases of radiation poisoning.
Professional meters can be very accurate, but are also expensive, complex and fragile (most use vacuum discharge tubes made of glass). However in many occasions we only want to determine whether an object is radioactive or not.
This device uses an open-air ionization chamber with a simple amplifier circuit.
Ionization Chambers
http://www.techlib.com/science/ion.html
Tomi Engdahl says:
Teaching Electronics With A Breadboard Badge
https://hackaday.com/2017/10/03/teaching-electronics-with-a-breadboard-badge/
Over the last year, the production of homebrew electronic badges for conferences has exploded. This is badgelife — the creation of custom hardware, a trial by fire of manufacturing, and a mountain of blinky LEDs rendered in electronic conference badges. It’s the demoscene for hardware, and all the cool kids are getting into it.
At this year’s World Maker Faire in New York, there was a brand new badge given out by the folks at Consumer Reports. This badge goes far beyond simple swag, and if you take a really good look at it, you’ll see magic rendered in breadboards and wire.
The Consumer Reports breadboard badge is simple and apparently designed to introduce kids to the world of electronics like the old Radio Shack, ‘100-in-1 Electronics Projects’ kits. Unlike most of the ‘beginner badges’ we’ve seen, this isn’t a badge where you only solder a few LEDs and a battery holder to a PCB. This is a breadboard badge. This is hacking with 74-series logic.
https://www.facebook.com/ConsumerReports/photos/pcb.10159364351065430/10159364343355430
Tomi Engdahl says:
This Synth Is Okay
https://hackaday.com/2017/10/03/this-synth-is-okay/
While this 3D printed synthesizer might just be okay, we’re going to say it’s better than that. Why? [oskitone] did something with a 555 timer.
The Okay synth from [oskitone] uses a completely 3D printed enclosure. Even the keys are printed. Underneath these keys is a small PCB loaded up with tact switches and small potentiometers. This board runs to another board loaded up with a 555 timer and a CD4040 frequency divider. This, in turn, goes into an LM386 amplifier. It’s more or less the simplest synth you can make.
OKAY Synth
http://blog.tommy.sh/posts/okay-synth
It’s a monophonic, analog, square-wave synthesizer, and I’m calling it… OKAY!
Monophonic:
Only one note at a time can be played. This is opposed to “polyphonic,” where multiple simultaneous notes can be played.
Analog:
There are no computers, microcontrollers, sound samplers, or anything digital involved. The sound you hear is the sound of a speaker being abused by discrete electronic components like capacitors and resistors and logic chips.
Square-wave:
When its output is viewed on an oscilloscope, its wave resembles a square. It’s a “hard” sounding wave type, great for bass lines, and commonly associated with chiptune music and old video games.
With a name like “OKAY” you might guess that functionality is intentionally limited. There’s just one octave of keys, a volume/power control, and an octave rotary switch to select from six different octaves. But what the OKAY lacks in features, it makes up for in accessibility; it uses standard, off-the-shelf electrical components and can be put together in about an afternoon.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Rocking Playmobil Wedding
https://hackaday.com/2017/10/04/rocking-playmobil-wedding/
Many of us have put our making/hacking/building skills to use as a favor for our friends and family. [Boris Werner] is no different, he set about creating a music festival stage with Playmobil figures and parts for a couple of friends who were getting married. The miniature performers are 1/24 scale models of the forming family. The bride and groom are on guitar and vocals while junior drums.
Automation was a mix of MOSFET controlled LEDs for the stage lighting, addressable light rings behind the curtain, a disco ball with a stepper motor and music, all controlled by an Arduino.
Tinkering Tuesday – Playmobil Stage – Introduction
http://www.boriswerner.eu/tinkering-tuesday-playmobil-stage-introduction/
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Tomi Engdahl says:
Hackaday Prize Entry: Scorpion DC-DC Voltage Converter
https://hackaday.com/2017/10/04/hackaday-prize-entry-scorpion-dc-dc-voltage-converter/
Finding the right wall wart or charger to go with an appliance might be a matter of convenience to you and I, but there are some people who really, really need the right charger, because not having it could mean a fire.
[marius] is a Romanian hardware engineer who moved to Papua New Guinea, where he had the opportunity to travel in the remote jungle of that country. There, he saw many people who used solar panels to charge car batteries for a 3W light bulb at night, their phones, or other conveniences that only need a few Watt-hours a day. Connecting car batteries directly to solar panels isn’t a smart idea, so [marius] set out to create a simple, very low-cost DC-DC voltage converter. He’s calling it the Scorpion 3.0, and it looks like a fantastic tool for low-income areas that are far off the grid.
Scorpion 3.0
Multi tool design for the IIIrd world countries
https://hackaday.io/project/26124-scorpion-30
Tomi Engdahl says:
LightBurn – laser software
Better software for laser cutters
https://hackaday.io/project/27157-lightburn-laser-software
LightBurn is a from-scratch vector editor that aims to replace RDWorks or other proprietary software for hobby-level users by offering a better user experience and a comparable feature set.
This is an ongoing personal project that’s still in early development, but enough people are interested that I figured I’d give occasional updates to show how it’s progressing.
The software is being written to run on PC and Mac, and currently supports the Ruida RDC6442G controller, as well as Grbl and Smoothie based boards, and can generate GCode output.
LightBurn is being written as an alternative to the proprietary software that comes with imported laser cutters. I bought a Chinese machine with a Ruida controller, and found the user experience lacking even though the hardware is very good.
I currently have import support for AI (Illustrator), PDF, and EPS files.
I will be adding DXF, SVG, and likely others as well. Image formats are JPG, PNG, and whichever others are handled by the Qt framework.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Precision Pantograph Probes PCBs
https://hackaday.com/2017/10/04/precision-pantograph-probes-pcbs/
Electronic components are getting smaller and for most of us, our eyesight is getting worse. When [Kurt] started using a microscope to get a better view of his work, he realized he needed another tool to give his hands the same kind of precision. That tool didn’t exist so he built it.
The PantoProbe is a pantograph mechanism meant to guide a probe for reaching the tiny pads of his SMT components. He reports that he has no longer has any trouble differentiating pins 0.5 mm apart which is the diameter of the graphite sticks in our favorite mechanical pencils.
Make Yourself More Precise
https://retrotechjournal.com/2017/10/03/make-yourself-more-precise/
You can build a Pantoprobe for < $20 if you have access to a 3D printer and a few hand tools.
Tomi Engdahl says:
The Art of Blinky Business Cards
https://hackaday.com/2017/10/04/literally-flashy-business-cards/
Business cards are stuck somewhere between antiquity and convenience. On one hand, we have very convenient paperless solutions for contact swapping including Bluetooth, NFC, and just saying, “Hey, put your number into my phone, please.” On the other hand, holding something from another person is a more personal and memorable exchange. I would liken this to the difference between an eBook and a paperback. One is supremely convenient while the other is tactile. There’s a reason business cards have survived longer than the Rolodex.
Flashing Takes Power: The Cutout Battery Holder Trick
Inspiration for my take on PCB business cards came from the idea of having a (literally) flashy card. After a little hunting, the biggest problem seemed to arise from a power source. Some relied on USB power and some had a battery soldered into the heart of the card. I wanted something that was more portable than USB power and more replaceable than a soldered battery.
The hack was to use the flexible nature of 0.6mm PCBs as the battery holder itself. A coin cell can be slipped in and out of these “fingers” easily. The profile of the whole card is thinner than a typical battery holder and it doesn’t even appear on the BOM. Plus, coin cell holders are prone to catching on the inside of pockets.
Power Your Business Card Out of Thin Air
Powering a card with USB isn’t a bad way to go but it requires a card 2.4mm thick and that is far from the only way to power up. You could add 9V battery snaps or even carve out two semi-circles at the edge of the card where 9V battery terminals can make their connections.
Another concept I experimented with was to harvest the power from an NFC transmitter. This card served the purpose of becoming an NFC antenna finding tool. Unlike similar tools, this simple design wouldn’t differentiate between high and low-frequency transmitters but the BOM only requires an LED. So, simplicity over function in a giveaway.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Open Hardware Summit Badges / Stencils 2017 OSHWA
https://hackaday.io/project/27592-open-hardware-summit-badges-stencils-2017-oshwa
Autodesk EAGLE project + test code for the Open Hardware Summit Badges, OSHWA Summit, October 2017
This project features the badges designed for the Open Hardware Association summit! The badges were a hybrid, fidget spinner + LED persistence in motion board. And an amazing collection of stencils!
Tomi Engdahl says:
Dumbo Never Forgets to Fill Your Glass
https://hackaday.com/2017/10/05/dumbo-never-forgets-to-fill-your-glass/
What do you get if you have a 3D printer, some booze (or any beverage), a pump, and an Arduino? If you are [RobotGeek] you wind up with an elephant that will pour you a shot on demand. The project was inspired by the ShotBot, but we have to admit the elephant sells it.
Drunky Dumbo
http://www.instructables.com/id/Drunky-Dumbo/
We made a cute version of the shotbot! This project uses a light sensor to automatically pour you a shot when a glass is placed on the stand.
We modified code from the original ShotBot to create this fun project.
Tomi Engdahl says:
A 3D Printer Alone Doesn’t Make A Hackspace
https://hackaday.com/2017/10/05/a-3d-printer-alone-doesnt-make-a-hackspace/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Hackaday Prize Entry: Clunke Button Powers Accessibility
https://hackaday.com/2017/10/05/hackaday-prize-entry-clunke-button-powers-accessibility/
An AT button is a device that helps people with all kinds of physical disabilities to interact with their world. There isn’t much to them, just a switch wired up to a 3.5mm mono plug or jack, but the switch is installed in a large button housing that’s easy to operate.
These buttons can be used with any appliance or toy that can be adapted for mono input. They’re a simple piece of technology that makes a world of difference, but for some reason, they cost around $65 each. Because of this, people make their own simple switches, but these aren’t usually sturdy or long-lasting. [Christopher] thinks they should cost way less than that and set out to make buttons for about $10 in materials. Aside from the printed files, all you really need to make a Clunke button is one Cherry MX in your favorite shade of blue, blue, or blue, and either a 3.5mm mono jack or plug, depending on preference.
Clunke Button
Assistive input device for interacting with adapted toys and tools.
https://hackaday.io/project/13288-clunke-button
Clunke is a low cost, printable switch for adapting toys and appliances to be used by people living with motor control disabilities.
Clunke exists to fill the gap between low cost switches (e.g. taping wires together) and high cost switches (existing commercial solutions) with a material price point of $10 and sturdy design suitable for daily use.
The current button design requires a hobby level 3D printer and mechanical keyboard switches.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Fighting Machine Tool Chatter with a 555 Timer
https://hackaday.com/2017/10/06/fighting-machine-tool-chatter-with-a-555-timer/
Vibration is a fact of life in almost every machining operation. Whether you’re milling, drilling, turning, or grinding, vibration can result in chatter that can ruin a part. Fighting chatter has generally been a matter of adding more mass to the machine, but if you’re clever about things, chatter reduction can be accomplished electronically, too.
REDUCE TOOL CHATTER! | DIY Lathe SSV Electronics.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=po5VUW3I8P8
New CNC mills and lathes have electronics that allow them to reduce chatter. I experiment with spindle speed variation on a manual lathe to test chatter reduction.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Hackerfarm Brings Light to Puerto Rico
https://hackaday.com/2017/10/06/japanese-hackers-sending-solar-lanterns-to-puerto-rico/
Puerto Rico has a long road to recovery, and part of this is the damaged infrastructure: much of the electricity distribution network was destroyed, and will take months or years to rebuild. The Japanese hacker group [Hackerfarm], founded by Hackaday friend [Akiba], is looking to help by sending some of their solar lanterns to provide off-grid light.
They’ve already shipped one batch,
Donating Solar Lanterns to Puerto Rico
https://hackerfarm.jp/2017/10/solar-lanterns-to-puerto-rico/
” I was in Japan during the horrible earthquake in 2011 … I remember when the rolling blackouts hit and the neighborhoods were completely dark. During the evening, all I had to provide light was the Kimono solar lantern I designed for a friend in Tokyo Hackerspace.”
This is the latest version of the Kimono solar lantern design and adds a more powerful light source, larger solar panel, and a paper lantern as a light diffuser.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Trading Bird Food for Cigarette Butts
https://hackaday.com/2017/10/09/trading-bird-food-for-cigarette-butts/
Positive reinforcement is the process of getting someone to understand their actions result in a reward. Children get a sweet treat when they pick up all their toys and older ones might get some cash for mowing the lawn. From the perspective of the treat-giver, this is like turning treats into work. A Dutch startup wants to teach the crow population to pick up cigarette butts in exchange for bird treats.
The whole Corvidae family of birds is highly intelligent so it shouldn’t be a problem training them that they will get a reward for depositing something the Hominidae family regularly throw on the street where the birds live. This idea is in turn an evolution of the open-source Crow Box.
dutch start-up crowded cities wants to train crows to pick up cigarette butts
https://www.designboom.com/technology/crowded-cities-crows-cigarette-butts-10-07-2017/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Casa Jasmina Two Years On
https://hackaday.com/2017/10/08/casa-jasmina-two-years-on/
[Bruce Sterling], author of fiction and nonfiction tomes aplenty, wrote up one of his projects for Makezine: Casa Jasmina, an IoT “house of the future”. Located in Torino, Italy, it was built upstairs from the Torino Fab Lab as a collaboration between [Bruce], his wife [Jasmina Tesanovic], and a number of other contributors. The original vision was for Casa Jasmina to be jam packed with cool laser-cut furniture, glowing LED projects, and other Maker Faire goodies.
Casa Jasmina Explores the Meaning of the Maker Home of the Future
https://makezine.com/2017/09/29/casa-jasmina-explores-meaning-maker-home-future/
Tomi Engdahl says:
To Compete With New Rivals, Chipmaker Nvidia Shares Its Secrets
https://www.wired.com/story/to-compete-with-new-rivals-chipmaker-nvidia-shares-its-secrets/
Five years ago, Nvidia was best known as a maker of chips to power videogame graphics in PCs. Then researchers found its graphics chips were also good at powering deep learning, the software technique behind recent enthusiasm for artificial intelligence.
The discovery made Nvidia into the preferred seller of shovels for the AI gold rush that’s propelling dreams of self-driving cars, delivery drones and software that plays doctor. The company’s stock-market value has risen 10-fold in three years, to more than $100 billion.
That’s made Nvidia and the market it more-or-less stumbled into an attractive target. Longtime chip kingpin Intel and a stampede of startups are building and offering chips to power smart machines. Further competition comes from large tech companies designing their own AI chips. Google’s voice recognition and image search now run on in-house chips dubbed “tensor processing units,” while the face-unlock feature in Apple’s new iPhone is powered by a home-grown chip with a “neural engine”.
Nvidia’s latest countermove is counterintuitive. This week the company released as open source the designs to a chip module it made to power deep learning in cars, robots, and smaller connected devices such as cameras. That module, the DLA for deep learning accelerator, is somewhat analogous to Apple’s neural engine. Nvidia plans to start shipping it next year in a chip built into a new version of its Drive PX computer for self-driving cars, which Toyota plans to use in its autonomous-vehicle program.
NVDLA
http://nvdla.org/
The NVIDIA Deep Learning Accelerator (NVDLA) is a free and open architecture that promotes a standard way to design deep learning inference accelerators. With its modular architecture, NVDLA is scalable, highly configurable, and designed to simplify integration and portability. The hardware supports a wide range of IoT devices. Delivered as an open source project under the NVIDIA Open NVDLA License, all of the software, hardware, and documentation will be available on GitHub. Contributions are welcome.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Hackerspaces are Hard: Safety
https://hackaday.com/2017/10/11/hackerspaces-are-hard-safety/
Safety is one of those topics that often elicits a less-than-serious response from some tool users. For these folks, they assume their elite skills will protect them and as long as they pay attention, they never will get hurt. This explains the prevalence of the nickname “Stubby” among this population. On the opposite end of the spectrum, safety is also one of those areas where people who don’t know a lot about tools can overreact. Imagine a whole table of kids wearing goggles as one of them gingerly melts some solder. You don’t want solder in your eye, but that’s just not going to happen under normal circumstances.
And then there are freak accidents, which are a reality.
All in all, hackerspaces seem to be reasonably safe, particular considering the challenges they face — or more fairly, the risks associated with the typical hackerspace’s openness. Most hackerspaces allow anyone who pay dues to be a member.
Safety isn’t a promise that nothing will go wrong. It’s a series of steps you take to ameliorate recognized hazards while trying to prepare for unpredictable accidents, in order to achieve an acceptable level of risk.
Don’t Do Dangerous Things Alone
… because when Chaos does show up, you don’t want to be fumbling with your phone on the floor; you want to be yelling out to your buddy to call the ambulance. This rule is simple: don’t be the only person in the space when you use any tool that can severely injure you.
Recruit someone to be the hackerspace’s safety expert, willing to read up on code and regulations, and to discover the best practices of other spaces. Finding someone to deep-dive into safety and regulations also helps the collective become aware of non-obvious safety issues like fumes, EM radiation, and noise.
Don’t Skimp on Safety Infrastructure
If there is a pile of goggles in the wood shop, users are more likely to wear them. It’s important for spaces to make safety infrastructure a priority. Maybe it’s an eyewash station or another first aid kit. The fire marshal will tell you if you need fire doors, sprinkers, and extinguishers. Don’t be those guys who get closed down for code violations.
By having content experts training in newbies and monitoring the area, it’s safer for everyone.
Get Properly Insured
This is a necessity — it’s what separates a space that can survive a serious accident and a space that folds.
Ultimately, just like in kindergarten, each member has to be in charge of his or her own behavior.
Tomi Engdahl says:
It’s A Wall-Mounted Dremel Workstation!
https://hackaday.com/2017/10/12/its-a-wall-mounted-dremel-workstation/
We’ve all seen Dremel drill presses, but [Tuomas Soikkeli] has created a full-fledged (albeit miniature) workstation using his Dremel as the motor. He has a gnome-sized belt sander with what appear to be skateboard wheels turning the belt, with the Dremel’s toolhead tensioning the belt and turning it as well. There’s a wee table saw, petite lathe, cute router, etc.
Dremel “workstation” aka Dremelathe -overview-
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CqtsNzWR85I
Tomi Engdahl says:
DIY 9V Battery
https://hackaday.com/2017/10/19/diy-9v-battery/
Volta’s pile — the first battery — was little more than silver and zinc discs separated by paper soaked in salt water. A classic classroom experiment is to build a pile from copper pennies, tin foil, and vinegar or lemon juice. [Omars2] has a different take on this old experiment. He creates a 9V battery using some zinc screws, copper wire, and salt water.
http://www.instructables.com/id/Make-a-Powerful-9V-Rechargable-Battery-From-Nails/
Tomi Engdahl says:
These Twenty Projects Won $1000 In The Hackaday Prize
https://hackaday.com/2017/10/21/these-twenty-projects-won-1000-in-the-hackaday-prize/
We just wrapped up the Anything Goes challenge last week, and now it’s time to announce the winners. These are the best, the coolest projects the Hackaday Prize has to offer.
Tomi Engdahl says:
What Makes A Hacker
https://hackaday.com/2017/10/23/what-makes-a-hacker/
I think I can sum up the difference between those of us who regularly visit Hackaday and the world of non-hackers. As a case study, here is a story about how necessity is the mother of invention and the people who invent.
Hackaday has overlap with sites like Pinterest and Instructables but there is one vital difference, we choose to create something new and beautiful with the materials at hand. Often these tools and techniques are very simple. We look to make things elegant by reducing the unnecessary clutter, not adding glitter. If something could be built with a 555 timer we will let you know. If there is a better choice for a processor, we will tell you.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Camera badge for Supercon 2017
https://hackaday.io/project/27427-camera-badge-for-supercon-2017
Conference badge for Hackaday Supercon 2017.
Features a camera module, 128×128 OLED display, MicroSD card socket and accelerometer.
This is the official documentation for the 2017 Hackaday Superconference hardware badge. The badge was conceived of and designed by Mike Harrison (aka. mikeselectricstuff ).Everyone who goes to Supercon this year will get one of these badges
Tomi Engdahl says:
Hi-Res, Body-Sized Pressure Sensor Mat
https://hackaday.com/2017/10/29/hi-res-body-sized-pressure-sensor-mat/
Hackers often find uses for pressure sensitive materials, detecting footfalls during walking or keypresses in a synthesizer being two examples. [Marco Reps] decided he’d make a hi-res, body-sized pressure sensitive mat mainly for computer-guided physiotherapy, though he wouldn’t rule out using it for gaming (twister anyone?). That meant making the equivalent of a body-sized matrix circuit of around 7000 sensors, as well as a circuit board with a multitude of shift registers. The result has a surprisingly good resolution, capable of making clearly distinguishable the heel, arch and front part of a foot.
His choice of pressure sensitive material was Velostat, a polymeric foam available as large sheets. The foam is impregnated with carbon black to make it electrically conductive, but being a foam, its resistance changes when pressure is applied. The first layer of the mat is made up of one centimeter wide strips of copper tape laid out lengthwise and spaced one centimeter apart. That’s followed by the Velostat and then another layer of copper tape oriented horizontally this time. The pressure sensors are the sandwiches formed by where the tapes overlap.
For the body-sized mat, we count around 50 by 140 overlapping areas for a total of around 7000 one square centimeter sensors.
Part 2: Hi-Res Pressure Sensor Matrix Mat finished
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0uPZwMg5B3k
Tomi Engdahl says:
Post-Hurricane, Makers Are Designing DIY Solutions For Disaster Relief
https://www.fastcompany.com/40482782/post-hurricane-makers-are-designing-diy-solutions-for-disaster-relief
Field Ready is trying to create systems where people on islands devastated by the recent hurricanes can invent and build their own solutions, without having to wait for assistance.
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hackaday.com/2017/10/31/making-braille-signs-out-of-pcbs/
http://jg.sn.sg/braille/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Homebuilt Laser Engraver Using Salvaged Parts
https://hackaday.com/2017/10/31/homebuilt-laser-engraver-using-salvaged-parts/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vjrh4fSkfWs
Tomi Engdahl says:
CNC Build From Scratch for 50$ | x-carve Inspired | MakerMan
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oyGropP6gcU