That solar robot has been around for a long time. Credit is due to Mark Tilden, the so-called “Father of BEAM robotics.” Learn more at http://www.solarbotics.net

Posted at 12:19 pm on Jul 21st, 2005 by Thermald

can i “hack” my own t-shirts on my silk screen? I can’t make it to defcon (no cash) but i’d love to sport a hackaday shirt.

Posted at 12:34 pm on Jul 21st, 2005 by Kev

I was going to make the same comment on the age of that robot. I’ve tried building a few (was about 5 years ago), but had no luck. Maybe I should try again sometime.

Posted at 12:38 pm on Jul 21st, 2005 by ben

“They’ll be here just in time for Defcon on July 26th.” should read “They’ll be here on July 26th, just in time for Defcon.”

Posted at 12:42 pm on Jul 21st, 2005 by Jason spence

Agreed. Has anyone got a mirror link to the google maps? its not loading for me :(

Posted at 12:52 pm on Jul 21st, 2005 by Orbit

“USC got their database hacked”

the number of imcompetent and ignorant people in our America’s university level is astounding…

It is a top-tier COLLEGE who TEACHES, among other things, COMPUTERS…

Am I missing something?

Posted at 12:52 pm on Jul 21st, 2005 by Chris

The hydrogen power info is nothing new, and in fact the “instant hydrogen” is the result of dropping any active metal into water – it’s the same thing that happened when you tossed a chunk of sodium or potassium metal into a pond in high school; it evolves hydrogen with a ton of heat and ’splodes. However, this method of producing hydrogen is a net-loss, because it takes a ton of energy to MAKE elemental active metals. I think the only real solution for viable hydrogen power will be solar-electric electrolysis of water.

Posted at 1:04 pm on Jul 21st, 2005 by Jeff

I have seen recently a rise in people using solar power to power their small robotics. Is this the way of the future or just a fad?

Posted at 1:20 pm on Jul 21st, 2005 by ThreePts

Wow, the hydrogen-power article is a real stinker! Tokyo air only 6-7% oxygen by volume? Brown’s gas _adding_ oxygen to atmposphere? Are we now working with the other meaning of “hack”?

Here, if you want mad-science kookiness, these guys are far more professional about it: http://jlnlabs.online.fr/

http://jlnlabs.online.fr/bingofuel/html/bfr10.htm

Posted at 1:35 pm on Jul 21st, 2005 by mycroft

I can’t get the original google maps article to work either. I used GOOGLE NEWS to help me search for a new one. It’s still quite limited in information and even links back to the same link hackaday uses.. but interesting nonetheless.

http://www.webpronews.com/insidesearch/insidesearch/wpn-56-20050720GoogleMapsFoughttheLawandWon.html

Posted at 1:52 pm on Jul 21st, 2005 by Cosmo

I still use a floppy linux distro: check out nas lite. It will turn any old pc into a file server (supports 4 IDE harddrives)

check out http://www.serverelements.com

Posted at 1:57 pm on Jul 21st, 2005 by Jeff stewart

anyone got a better link for the pink floyd case? The one given seems to have the pics missing :(

Posted at 2:01 pm on Jul 21st, 2005 by jeffers

man… hackaday is causing some serious connectivity issues for some posted links… lol…

re: google map link: CONNECTION REFUSED..

can you say DOS… lol..

Posted at 2:08 pm on Jul 21st, 2005 by Chris

If anyone really gave a damn about cleaner fuels they’d try and push the use of Propane or Compressed Natural Gas (I prefer propane) until a viable Hydrogen car is available. Any existing internal combustion engine can run on it, it doesn’t leave messy build-up in the engine (extends engine life / increased oil change interval), produces far less emissions, and it’s everywhere (just not available 24-hours a day in most places).

It costs about $1.25 a gallon right now. Of course if you lease a tank for your home you can get it much cheaper [ when you buy 500+ gallons at a time :) ].

It is not equal to gasoline in power output, but all you need to do is add a turbo to your car to help get more oxygen since the gas displaces available oxygen. And now you’re set!

Modern LPG injection systems are computer controlled and can be very nicely tuned.

And all you diesel nuts, add and LPG injector to your engine for a little combustion boost. :)

Posted at 2:14 pm on Jul 21st, 2005 by Sleighboy

http://www.beam-online.com/

I like this website better regarding BEAM robotics…. man I used to do that when I was 14. SO much fun…. so easy too! you guys should try, but be sure to do it from scratch, cause if you don’t….what’s the point?

Posted at 2:33 pm on Jul 21st, 2005 by J-chot

what good would propane do? It still produces CO2 and its a lot more of a hassle to deal with (being a compressed gas and all).
Besides it still must be drilled, most natural gas is flared off anyway since its not cost effective to transport.
propane being cheap really doesnt mean anything since it is not road taxed. Look at the price difference between diesel and heating oil, same thing but diesel cost more because of the road taxes.
That is really just band-aid on a broken arm.

And hydrogen isnt much better especially since the only cost effective way to extract it is reforming OIL. Electrolysis will NEVER be worth anything unless power is abundant (ie nuclear fussion) since it takes more power than you will ever get back. It just makes the whole thing an energy storage medium.

Maybe i’ll build a car with a sail, then I can use the wind :-D

Posted at 2:41 pm on Jul 21st, 2005 by e

I know it’s not totally clean, but it is a lot better than gasoline. And of course it is not a final solution, just a better way to get by and also it will make engines last a lot longer.

The majority of U.S. propane comes from our (if you’re not U.S.-based then disregard the rest of this bit) own petroleum supply and refinferies in Texas as a by-product of the refining process. The supply is plentiful, and almost totally internal.

CNG is a tricky situtation, thats why i’d suggest propane. CNG is compressed, propane is not actually compressed upon filling AFAIK, it is liquid that “boils” and vaproizes at -42 C. It stores very easily without degrading and if a tank is puntured it will just leak, it wouldn’t take off like a rocket like CNG would.

Sure it doesn’t have road tax, but even if they charged a tax at the pump, you can easily lease your own tank and buy it wholesale. You can’t easily lease your own 500 gallon gasoline tank that you get topped off all the time. And think how much gas you’d have to go through to buy enough where it’d be cheap, and wouldn’t go “bad”.

But alas, we’re still stuck at oil refining. And thats why it is just a band-aid. But it’s a good band-aid in my opinion. Plus you can justify getting a turbocharger for your car :)

So until we’re all using our garbage as fuel to keep the flux capacitor in operation, let’s just stick to doing the best with what we have.

Posted at 3:28 pm on Jul 21st, 2005 by sleighboy

i am printing my hackaday shirt today. it is identical to the ones you had made but mine says hackaday a little smaller and closer to the skull. i will post pics later today.

Posted at 4:19 pm on Jul 21st, 2005 by kiddanger

2 comments:
- the ‘make a regular engine run on water’ link reads like a kook or fraud page.
- my favorite info source for BEAM robotics, like the solar robot link, is http://solarbotics.org/

Posted at 4:30 pm on Jul 21st, 2005 by Peter H

google maps link back up:
http://www.gearlive.com/index.php/news/article/google_maps_helps_fight_traffic_tickets_07160942/

Posted at 4:34 pm on Jul 21st, 2005 by Edwin

@ #18 can you maybe post a png of the the shirt like the design so regular people can print it out on that iron on tshirt stuff?

Posted at 4:34 pm on Jul 21st, 2005 by MSG43

if you are gonna make an iron-on you just need a jpeg and reverse it. i wouldnt do an iron on unless its a white shirt. it doesnt look very good at all on black shirts. especially since printers dont have white ink. there is a vinyl you can iron on, they come in any color of the rainbow but have to be cut by a flexisign machine. the best way to do it is to just screenprint it yourself.

Posted at 5:17 pm on Jul 21st, 2005 by kiddanger

White ink? lol, you dont need that. I have iron-ons that have the white already on it and are specifically for black/dark shirts. They replace the white with the color if needed, and any areas that you want to be white, you just leave that way, since the printer will not print the white areas…if that makes sense. Then you just cut and transfer and bam! you have a white iron on. Ive used it a few times with some shirts with great results…but yes any other way is almost better than inkjet iron-ons.

Posted at 5:35 pm on Jul 21st, 2005 by Xaos

Man, something great happend and i got hackaday to thank for it ! I was getting tired about all the winning about defcon, so i decided to check out WHAT THE HELL it is.
So,i hited the web and soon found out. First i felt a bit jealous and thought being a european i would never be able to attend such a great event. Then i learnt about “What the hack” a 4-day hacker event/convention in the Netherlands ( Holland, as many off you may now it) wich is just 7 days away, and only happens ( under different names ) every 4 year. Without hackaday, your comments on defcon i would have never found out (or EVEN WORSE i would have found out TO LATE ) ! So, now i’m registered, going over there , and winning to others about it. Thanks a lot , have a good time at defcon !

Posted at 6:02 pm on Jul 21st, 2005 by Rob

where can i send my graffiti wall that i tagged =P

Posted at 6:16 pm on Jul 21st, 2005 by datwstddevil

just for the record, i think the guy who built the pink floyd computer did it as a client build (he’s quite literally a professional modder). you can see his site with more pictures of the pink floyd mod and other (even better) ones here:
http://www.mnpctech.com/

Posted at 7:13 pm on Jul 21st, 2005 by r4v3

can we set up a cafepress, but with $0 profit?

Posted at 7:28 pm on Jul 21st, 2005 by kyleyankan

the hydrogen fuel page is a kook. “The first process shown to us by Rothman Technologies uses water, salt, and an extremely inexpensive metal alloy. The gas that results from this process is pure hydrogen, a fuel that burns without the need for external oxygen — and gives off no pollution whatsoever.”

hydrogen does require oxygen to burn, as does any element. things don’t oxidize themselves, you know.

Posted at 9:00 pm on Jul 21st, 2005 by cyanoacry

“The gas that results from this process is pure hydrogen, a fuel that burns without the need for external oxygen

Posted at 10:40 pm on Jul 21st, 2005 by exparrot

It takes the same amount of input energy to split water in to hydrogen and oxygen gasses as what you get out when you burn it… so why bother? Just use the input energy directly.

Posted at 10:41 pm on Jul 21st, 2005 by exparrot

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again:
Water: H2O

Hydrogen: H2

“Burning” hydrogen = 2H2 + O2 = 2H20 + heat
Electrolyse water: 2H2O + energy = 2H2 + O2

There is no way to burn hydrogen without making water. Water is, in essence, “burnt” hydrogen.

So why don’t you take the ashes from your fireplace, turn them into wood, and burn them again?

–buddy

Posted at 10:46 pm on Jul 21st, 2005 by nullset

I personally own a propane powered truck, its duel fuel so i can switch in between the fuels, I love it, propane is just so much quieter and efficent.

Posted at 12:03 am on Jul 22nd, 2005 by phycon

so, can I start impressing you by getting on my knees and begging for a hack a day shirt? I kinda lack the resources as of now to hack things (my parents won’t let me touch anything around me that is worth hacking, and I can’t tag a cop car… not good with spray paint).

Posted at 12:33 am on Jul 22nd, 2005 by Demosthenese

my shirt is now complete, i am too tired to take pics of it so i will post it in the morn. oh and once again cafepress is bogus.

Posted at 12:41 am on Jul 22nd, 2005 by kiddanger

ok fellows i finished my shirts, i made three in total one for me and two for my friends. heres is a linky to what i looks like. http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v335/kidxdanger/S3010106.jpg
gimme some input like/dislike?

Posted at 12:47 am on Jul 22nd, 2005 by kiddanger

Nice work 33, but why the font size change and move?

Posted at 12:58 am on Jul 22nd, 2005 by GRimo

i wanted it to look more like my paul frank shirt. and i had my film ready last week so i didnt want to change it. glad you like it.

Posted at 1:44 am on Jul 22nd, 2005 by kiddanger

Dude…

now I’m all motivated to go and hack something.

do we get brownie points somehow?

Posted at 3:50 am on Jul 22nd, 2005 by Ryan

Excellent job kiddanger, did you screenprint that?

Posted at 5:26 am on Jul 22nd, 2005 by Xaos

Nice job kiddanger. I don’t have any problem with people making their own gear or slapping our logo on their projects, since you aren’t selling them or using them to misrepresent us. Keep up the work. Imitation is good for flattery, but an original design for your next hackaday shirt would be really cool.

Posted at 1:29 pm on Jul 22nd, 2005 by Eliot Phillips

thanks everyone, yes i did screenprint them. i will probably do another design in the next few weeks. i have some other shirts i need to print before that. i think i will also put the logo on a headband, so it soaks up the sweat in lanparty fever.

Posted at 2:24 pm on Jul 22nd, 2005 by kiddanger

haha, I noticed that you used CustomInk as your screen printer then? They’re good, but… you for sure could’ve found some one local cheaper, then given away more stuff!!

Posted at 2:30 pm on Jul 22nd, 2005 by harrison