1 how about a hardware platform that has a nice amount of memory and can be used to actually hack other hardwares do do multiple other things

2. A nice ground up build of a computer that can support many platforms(osx linux,windows while still maintaing great speeds.. and how about maintianing to have some basic programmers and other hardware built in

3. A nice ebook with projects and tools starting from basic tools, projects and programs to Advanced projects tools and programs… you like a compiled up with hundreds and thousands of hack programs projects and different amounts of hardwares which will come handy when someone is bored and wants to do sumthing to someone who is stuck on sum thing and needs help

4 how about sprusing up some great already made hardware (improving the design shrinking it with better quality hardware, maybe a nice case wit some leds or sumthin on that basis

Posted at 5:03 pm on Jan 27th, 2008 by Nabeel

collaborative super cheap rf receiver /| transmiter platform?
we could design it to receive gps, wifi, bluetooth, and NOAA weather satellite frequencies. It could be useful for decrypting satelite tv, or whathave you.

Posted at 5:07 pm on Jan 27th, 2008 by Emperor

a cheap logic analyzer/oscilloscope combination, with powerful triggering abilities?

Posted at 5:34 pm on Jan 27th, 2008 by julian

Some sort of usb oscilloscope, so there is no need for a crt but instead it can be shown on the computer screen or logged to a file.

Posted at 5:38 pm on Jan 27th, 2008 by error32

I second comment #3. These are probably the most cost preventative item on a workbench, and a lot would be learned in the process of building on.

Posted at 5:39 pm on Jan 27th, 2008 by Tim

A hacking course for beginners, with detailed lessons starting with simple hacks and building up to the (more or less) famous ones.

That, or a cheap O-scope.

Posted at 5:43 pm on Jan 27th, 2008 by Skyler Orlando

what #3 said.

I have a printer cartridge testing setup idea which would require a logic analyser, plus it would come in handy for a lot of other things.

Posted at 5:59 pm on Jan 27th, 2008 by jonouk

#3 is on target. i need a logic analyzer bad. it would probably need to be fpga based unless you can find a real good u-controller.

Posted at 6:06 pm on Jan 27th, 2008 by jake

A cheap and full featured usb oscilloscope would indeed be nice

Posted at 6:09 pm on Jan 27th, 2008 by Peter

truly there is only one answer, a fskin gundam of course

Posted at 6:11 pm on Jan 27th, 2008 by andres

#3, a logic analysis tool with a powerful software frontend would be sweet. its a project for both hardware and software peoples.

Posted at 6:12 pm on Jan 27th, 2008 by Emperor

I also agree that a quality usb logic analyzer/o-scope would be a great project. Existing standalone scopes/analyzers with respectable specs are prohibitively expensive (at least for many of us DIYers), while the cheaper USB ones only work at low frequencies. It also seems like this project could be nicely split up into several sub-projects – the analog h/w, the data acquisition/usb stuff, and a multi-platform OSS GUI.

Posted at 6:16 pm on Jan 27th, 2008 by turbo

I agree with Comment #6, Detailed lessons for the new hacker would be great. Ex.) Tools, Projects, Help, etc. etc.

Posted at 6:17 pm on Jan 27th, 2008 by zach

#3 got it, a logic analyser;

for what it can do, and how much it costs, this has been the stuff of dreams for me

Posted at 6:22 pm on Jan 27th, 2008 by jeanphe

An o-scope or logic analyzer gets my vote. Even if it isn’t the fastest thing on the market, it would be better than what the majority of us can afford.

Posted at 6:39 pm on Jan 27th, 2008 by phishinphree

I’d probably try to to build a machine that makes energy drink. Or somekind of supercomputer that can play crysis

Posted at 6:46 pm on Jan 27th, 2008 by Chaos Theory

Definitely something to do some real good to the world.
What can tech guys do? Starting to free ourselves from oil. How? By finding easy and cheap ways to convert our current cars to electric. Starting where? For example, on the electric engine…
http://myownhybrid.wordpress.com/

Posted at 6:51 pm on Jan 27th, 2008 by Njay

it would be like herding cats, it’s almost a requirement for a hacker to be very independent and making leaps of logic that others won’t immediately understand. that said, if you could somehow tame a group of hackers, the electronics hobby world really needs a desktop automated system for making circuit boards, especially with plated holes and multiple layers (required for most high speed and bga chips). then someone could make their own logic analyzer that wouldn’t suck from not being able to use the best chips.

Posted at 6:54 pm on Jan 27th, 2008 by macegr

i like the noob tutorial… but i am a noob and so please don’t count my opinion *goes in search of a tutorial now >.

Posted at 7:02 pm on Jan 27th, 2008 by zat

I think the most valuable thing we could do is reduce the cost of becoming a hacker. Money comes and money goes… but the amount of time invested to become a hacker is both large and irreplaceable.

I’d like to see a single, unified document that serves as an introduction to hardware hacking. Assuming a knowledge of math up to functions, there’s no reason a sufficiently dedicated person couldn’t be introduced to hardware hacking within their spare time over a few months, and for under 200$.

Dev platforms are also great. I’m happy to see someone got the AtMega microcontrollers to talk to flash memory cards. Maybe we could make an Atmel development board that lets you load programs for the Atmel to compactflash instead of using the STK500 or equivalent? If it could also write to the compactflash in a sane way, and have free pins and analog to digital converters, then we will have successfully reduced the complexity to entering the microcontroller world (yes, I know atmel has some usb flashdrive/microcontroller products, but we can do better). Graduate students around the world would also have a universal datalogger which can be programmed to produce output already in a .csv file, which would be damn cool for us SAS or R users.

Posted at 7:08 pm on Jan 27th, 2008 by Sean

#3 – with USB port

Posted at 7:27 pm on Jan 27th, 2008 by yamhill

+1 on the call for a USB scope/analyser. I’ve been eyeing off CRT scopes on eBay for a while now, but I’m hesitant to buy a piece of old technology. With a USB scope I could do very useful things like take screenshots of waveforms etc. Imagine how helpful it would be if the hardware-hacking blogosphere started posting waveforms of how their circuits work along with their hacks! Unfortunately I haven’t come across any USB scopes which are A. Linux/Mac friendly or B. within my price range. Yay for a community project.

Posted at 7:34 pm on Jan 27th, 2008 by nullobject

Robot platform sounds good. A simple modular approach to code that will run on pic avr with abstraction. Think arduino but better. Hardware would consist of modular motors both servo and stepper with modular hardware interfaces all of the same size and interface layout. Brackets and connectors would be cheap and simple like lynx ses but simpler and cheaper. Plans should be available for cnc milling. high level software should be available for linux/win32 with a shared lib and gui should consist of use of existing platforms such as player/stage or ms robotics studio.
This opens the scope for everyone to have a say on many parts of the project, no matter the experience level.

i would second the scope but it is cheap to get a half way decent digital scope from ebay for

Posted at 8:32 pm on Jan 27th, 2008 by ginge

it appears I went over the post limit. or my use of lessthan borked it up
… continued

i would second the scope but it is cheap to get a half way decent digital scope from ebay for sub $150 prices and creating one from scratch involves FPGA hardware tricky coding, soldering and filtering. This is something I did a few years ago and it became more expensive than a cheap scope.

my 2p

Posted at 8:36 pm on Jan 27th, 2008 by ginge

Yea a usb o-scope would be sweet but i do like the idea of a beginner hacker ebook. It could just be a collaboration of everyone’s favorite beginner hacks, a ton of good tutorials from soldering to program design for hacks. also include design ideas and sample code. a universal troubleshooting guide that includes basics that a new hacker would forget.

A quick start guide that gets them to make something they could use in less than an hour or 2 of work, so they find it fun and not repetitive reading.(think of absolutely everything u would need and try to find it on the net for under $200 cause i know it needs to be cheap.)

Thats about all i could think of but hey it should be comprehensive and go from a maybe a simple tv-b-gone to mircocontrollers and basic robotics.

Posted at 8:43 pm on Jan 27th, 2008 by Rhomp

not sure if this is what everyone is looking for but Circuit-Test makes a USB oscilliscope. Two channels and I think it comes with the software. http://www.circuittest.com Part Number: DSO-2032

Posted at 8:50 pm on Jan 27th, 2008 by computerwiz_222

vote #3 ++

other than that all I can think of is an arm processor board reference design or board itself with somewhere from 16-128mb ram and USB host/slave, small enough to be a cell mobo, yet flexible enough to be a robotics brain or controller, modularity being key.

the way I see it, make everything smart, I want my toaster to complain if I use white bread to much and tell me it’s boring, to try english muffins, then make a joke about tea and crumpets or something.

Posted at 9:25 pm on Jan 27th, 2008 by alexb

a) Need free hardware? Sign up for freecycle.org. Lots and lots of free hardware being given away. Just be patient.

b) #3 – the o-scope-man – he gets my vote, too.

c) I need someone out there to figure out how to convert multiple cordless phones into a set of personal boom mics for a troupe of improv actors. For Bluetooth ear boom mics, the BT stack on a laptop cannot handle pairing with multiple devices. Someone’s got to figure out how to hack that, too.

Thanks hackaday, ur so kewl.

(/|\) Peace

Posted at 9:29 pm on Jan 27th, 2008 by Doug Parker

Totally agree with the O-scope idea. Even very old second hand units go for prohibitively(for some of us) high prices on ebay

Posted at 9:30 pm on Jan 27th, 2008 by bencoder

any chance we could get rid of the 20 comments per page and bump it up to 50?

Posted at 9:34 pm on Jan 27th, 2008 by Emperor

I also agree that a pc based scope would be extremely useful! I wouldn’t know where to start making one though, other than you would need something that runs at a fairly high frequency.

Posted at 9:45 pm on Jan 27th, 2008 by David

Honestly, I would like a forum.

For projects, I can think of many things that are made for niche markets and therefore, overpriced. However, it is usually simple enough that someone on their own could figure it out, but a forum would help ;)

Posted at 9:51 pm on Jan 27th, 2008 by Weirdguy

A lot of good ideas here, but for the first project, I vote for the USB o’scope/logic analyzer combo. Can we do it for under $200.00?

Posted at 10:01 pm on Jan 27th, 2008 by Brian Howell

I like the idea of #3

What I would suggest, would be a modular controller platform, linux based, similar in size to gumstix or COG, but flexible enough that it could be a cell phone mobo, robotics platform, soft/hardware radio, connected to an FPGA, USB host/slave, maybe an LCD controller, with a code base so someone new to electronics and with minimal understanding of code, could purchase an assembled version, maybe a motor controller “module”, and an I/O sensor interface yet still powerfull enough to interface to something like the PSP LCD from sparkfun, or a cellular module per say, maybe IDE and definately SD interface…
anyways what a wishlist

Posted at 10:06 pm on Jan 27th, 2008 by alexb

How about an inexpensive solar powered UAV that communicates through existing cellular phone networks? It could incorporate GPS, alternative energy, cellular phones, rc airplanes, video transmition?

Posted at 10:07 pm on Jan 27th, 2008 by theonlyari

A modular robotics platform sounds interesting. Something that has easy to use software and hardware modules that can be put together simply.

Posted at 10:27 pm on Jan 27th, 2008 by MaverickNZ

what ever it is im in!

Posted at 10:36 pm on Jan 27th, 2008 by jetblack

Definitely a laser show from the tip of the robot’s antenna :D

Posted at 11:28 pm on Jan 27th, 2008 by D4rk

a wifi card that automatically decrypts router keys and passwords for universal access

Posted at 11:41 pm on Jan 27th, 2008 by Lonny Kight

Perhaps my ambitions are low, but I’d like some software that emulates simple hardware devices (like calculators, speak’n’spells, those cheap handheld game devices, etc.). Let the user lay out circuits in a GUI.

I can see a few uses for this. You can test a hack idea on your computer before dedicating hardware to the project. You could test a device to predict power requirements and bugs. You could circuit-bend. You could see if that device you just made really could run off of solar power, without having to buy solar panels and then discover it can’t.

Posted at 12:09 am on Jan 28th, 2008 by Taehl

how about an instructional DVD for basic hardware hacking or best practicies compilation of some sort? how about a movie showcasing hardware hacking? let’s invite McGyver as the narrator :D

Posted at 12:22 am on Jan 28th, 2008 by cloner

1.) I would be for a Printed Circuit Board maker that is a little more durable then just ones made from laser/inc printers. Could use a CNC machine as a basis and build from there to deal with copper.

2.) A hack a day guide to getting copper on those through holes your drill on a pcb.

Posted at 12:53 am on Jan 28th, 2008 by Daren

Silly Pooh Bear, have them take over Canada. It would just be the stepping stone. Our real target would be Wal*Mart, but we’d still be too week to take it head on…that’s where Canada comes in…

Posted at 1:25 am on Jan 28th, 2008 by Christopher Reitmann

There have been a lot of requests for logic analysers and o-scopes, which immediately reminded me of a series of articles in Electronics now in the late 90s.
here are the stub articles:
Logic Analyser
http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-9367339_ITM
DSO add-on
http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-9316289_ITM
Speed doubler
http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-9320808_ITM

essentially an fpga 40mhz 16 (8 out, 8 in)channel l.a. with simple (dos) software to run it. If I remember right, it was a parallel port device.
The second link is for a two channel 40mhz digital storage oscope addon module. It pluged in where the 16 channel inputs were on the l.a.
Finally the third was a speed doubler for the l.a. (80mhz l.a. but cut channel count to 8 (4 out, 4 in? or was it 8 any way you want?). again, it pluged into the input/expansion connector of the original unit)

The whole set was pretty impressive, and not terribly expensive. I think the main unit would have set you back about $50 to $80 at the time. Kudos to james barbarello for all the hard work!

So, not to burst a bubble, but its been done (and very well I might add).
However, I would like to suggest reviewing this series and then comming up with a vastly updated (esp USB and software) model based on this design (with the same goals.. I.E. speed, channel count and a wide enough voltage range so as to avoid blowing the device if you hook it to the wrong end of your circuit.

Posted at 1:43 am on Jan 28th, 2008 by MRE

Another vote for #3.
Outdated ebay o-scopes work fine but what kind of hacker buys something when they can build it?

Posted at 1:55 am on Jan 28th, 2008 by Oneohm

As a noob, if ya’ll were to write an ebook on an intro to hardware hacking, i would definitely include a section on reverse-engineering/circuit-bending/chip-salvaging. I say reverse engineering because as I have seen it, the best way to learn electronics (apart from the theory) is to mess with existing electronics, ie mods and hacks.

Posted at 2:05 am on Jan 28th, 2008 by samurai1200

Imagine the brand new platform for hacking. Something in size of Asus EEE or common laptop. Or take an old laptop casing with LCD and make the new platform into it. It could be x86ish (or not), linux or windows, something really easy for programming. It should be highly modular and hackable, should have serial and parallel ports and some hacker-invention-port.

Posted at 3:00 am on Jan 28th, 2008 by Bill.jr

I thought over various ideas whilst drinking in the bathtub (beer not bathwater) and the only concept I fealt could apply to all levels of “hacker” would be either an electric/hybrid vehicle, or an ecologically friendly home. On the vehicle side it would apply to engineers and tinkerers alike, whilst the home side would be appealing to a wider audience I believe. From waste management to energy usage to lighting to power generation to structure to heating/cooling to even self sufficience.

I feel that to impact the largest audience with the talent available, changing the world is neccesary, and every one needs somewhere to live.

Posted at 3:07 am on Jan 28th, 2008 by afbcom

…continued from 42:

I think that no matter what idea(s) be selected, consider how to make the biggest difference, help the greater number of people, and to include the most people in the project.

THiNkInG beyond just hackers, engineers, mad scientists, tinkerers, modders, observers, and general spooks, try and gen as many people as possible involved.

I propose a vote/poll based on the suggestions in the comment section of this article.

Posted at 3:14 am on Jan 28th, 2008 by afbcom

I agree with #3, given todays microcontrollers, building a sophisticated oscilloscope/logic analyzer shouldn’t be impossible, although we might have to throw in external A/D converters, those in the common AVRs and PICs are not nearly fast enough at high conversion resolutions (and seriously, we need more than a maximum of highly exaggerated 10bit resolution of the typical AtMega 16);
Might be a project for a cost effective 16 bit microcontroller which should be programmable in C; given that fact, we should be able to build a custom easy-to-use language which we’ll convert to C-code or whatever to give users the chance to easily develop test cases for their scope.
I’ll have to disagree with #20 in that at least here it is near impossible to get a decent scope for a reasonable price at ebay. Hey- Our Scope could, with a little effort, address external memory to make it a persistence oscilloscope. Imagine the possibilities if we throw in a module for flash memory extensions, USB connectivity or Signal generation!

Posted at 3:33 am on Jan 28th, 2008 by Transcendor

How about a universal data recorder.That can record any kind of data including from a webcam.Imagine 4Gb low power memory attached to a simple webcam. can any one do that?dump the data from webcam into pendrive with some interfacing using hobby electronics? would almost kill the handy cam market at low level. or even better human interface devices.

Posted at 3:53 am on Jan 28th, 2008 by anil

I think it would be great if there were a wiki-like community with the sum knowledge of all of the different fields represented by each of us, including personal experiences, ebooks, tools, platforms, etc. It would be a great reference for data sheets and schematics.

Posted at 3:54 am on Jan 28th, 2008 by Toshibi

you can get an amazing scope on eBay for $150
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/100MSa-s-40M-PC-based-digital-storage-oscilloscope_W0QQitemZ160202480542QQihZ006QQcategoryZ45008QQcmdZViewItem

For the homebrew guys these spring to mind:-

http://www.dsoworld.co.uk/
http://www.cardiagnostic.co.uk/GBADSO.htm

Posted at 3:57 am on Jan 28th, 2008 by ginge

@27c. Bluetooth isn’t very good at creating a network of more than a few (eight) nodes. ZigBee would be a suitable alternative. Simple mesh networking.

Or the easiest solution would be to go to a music store and get some wireless microphones.

I like the idea of a modular robotics platform, but I feel many people would fall into two camps: PIC and AVR.

I’m sure there is some software out there that does this… but porting between PIC and AVR code would be neat.

I like the USB scope/logic analyzer idea. Even running on a cheap 20MHz micro, it would be sufficiently useful to most all of us. The signals I deal with are never more than 100kHz.

Posted at 4:20 am on Jan 28th, 2008 by goldscott

i vote for a more elaborate kind of “instructable” [ see http://www.instructables.com ] or some kind of ebook, manual, or howsoever you might consider packing some sort of hacking intro, with everything one might need to know for the basics of hacking. that way one might try to do something more creative than “modular” stuff, instead of struggling to understand just how stuff works.

Posted at 4:26 am on Jan 28th, 2008 by DonQuijote

“I like the idea of a modular robotics platform, but I feel many people would fall into two camps: PIC and AVR.”

And this is a bad thing why?

“I’m sure there is some software out there that does this… but porting between PIC and AVR code would be neat.”

Abstraction layers. Instead of banging hardware directly abstract them out. More platforms could be added without anyone noticing. If done right you could have your cake and eat it. Make a good modular platform and use it as a digital storage scope.

Posted at 4:46 am on Jan 28th, 2008 by ginge

I think a Wiki is the way to discuss and develop any ideas. Not quite what to develop though.

Posted at 5:10 am on Jan 28th, 2008 by Stephen Rowley

I think a simple open source CNC router, about the size of an a4 sheet of paper. Made out of commonly avaialable parts, and with the ability to reproduce it’s self, in a limited fashion. i.e the main structure could be made from perspex, and the router could cut out the required shapes to build another one with the addition ofthe control electronics and stepper motors.

it could be used to route PCB’s and build enclousers, people could openly share projects they have creted using it, and with the same piece of hardware people could reproduce the projects /improve upon them.

Also +1 for the USB oscilliscope. Tht would be hella wicked.

Posted at 5:46 am on Jan 28th, 2008 by }{itch

I would like to help with the oscilloscope .I haven’t been able to replace my old one that went out a long time ago. Make it cheap and easy to build .

Any type of tools would be good .The more contributors the better.

Posted at 7:42 am on Jan 28th, 2008 by anomalous

could a SDR(Software Defined Radio) used at least partly to make digital oscope? to a newb like me they seem quite similar.

Posted at 7:46 am on Jan 28th, 2008 by zokier

First time post here I think ^^
x2 on the cheap scope/logic analyser. I’m lucky enough to have a powerful Tektronix bench scope with USB output on my bench, but a cheap build-your-own like one of the old Heathkits would be fantastic.
Could be done for a US$200 or so, if you were smart about the design.
Or a general purpose I/O board with a PIC on it. I designed one of these based on a PIC16F877A and it has many GPIO pins and can be used to drive an LCD or an LED array or some other device, et cetera. I’d be willing to share it if people are interested :)

Posted at 8:48 am on Jan 28th, 2008 by Neo

I third the wiki idea. Lots of people are asking for some sort of place to get started or a dvd? A wiki could be that place. (wiki.hackaday.com?) It could have different sections for getting started on different types of hacking. (ipods, cnc’s pic’s, etc.)

And as bonus, you could get your o-scope ideas on there!

Posted at 8:48 am on Jan 28th, 2008 by Kyle Anderson

Why don’t some of you guys figure out how to hack the digital cable tuners, since the DIY community built their own HTPCs, and now the big companies are trying to make it harder for a computer builder to get DVR capabilities on their home computers.

Posted at 9:03 am on Jan 28th, 2008 by mjm

Ok, if someone else will build the hardware for the usb o-scope, I’ll start coding. It would also be helpful if someone fairly competent at frontend coding could make it look nice. I can make it functional if someone else can make it pretty.

Post here a time to meet in whichever IRC channel and server, and we’ll talk about it “in person”

Posted at 9:21 am on Jan 28th, 2008 by CRNewsom

I’d say the best thing the community could do if it were to come together for a project is an open source HDCP stripper. Besides striking a mighty blow at the pro-DRM crowd, it would help a lot of people out. I have a monitor that is HDCP compliant and I still get occasional weirdness when switching sources with bad handshakes, etc. I end up having to power cycle my monitor and equipment to get everything working again. Its rubbish.

Posted at 9:38 am on Jan 28th, 2008 by Scott

Forget all this I/O panel bogus, lets build some weapons of mass destruction and take over the world!

Posted at 9:45 am on Jan 28th, 2008 by Jato

A poweder based 3D printer. Then we can build whatever else we like.

Parts are about $100 (ink jet printer, some gears, and some wood) , but it would require a bunch of geniuses to make it work well.

The idea is to fill a box with powder (there are a million types of plaster) and print a single layer with regular ink, then add a layer, print a layer, etc. . Depending on the powder used, the resulting models can be very detailed and quite tough.

Posted at 10:04 am on Jan 28th, 2008 by Matt

One project with the most far-reaching implications is the RepRap project already in progress at: http://reprap.org/bin/view/Main/WebHome
It would be an ideal joint project for the hacker community because:
1) It is already in place.
2) It is DOABLE.
3) It is already modular, so individuals can contribute as they see fit, but teams could take on specific problems and solve them.
4) It presents problems of all types and levels, including hardware and software, both simple and complex.
5) Solving this problem – to whatever degree the community desires, will change the world is many positive, but unforseeable ways.

Posted at 10:11 am on Jan 28th, 2008 by Ben Wade

I already made my hon board but can get improvement (i just don’t know how :P )

Multi Purpose PIC (18f8722 & 18f6540) Board
have:
RS 232 /456
USB
I2C
WIFI
Bluetootch
GPS
GSM/GPRS
RF 400MHz Link
LCD
4 H-Bridge
20Servo Controllers
Analog and Digital I/O

Special Connection for VIA Pico-ITX Board (For any SO u can put it together)
And other
12×10cm SMD components

Usability?
Normally use for Robocup Junior championships but i can use it almost for any of my projects.
Ps im not spaming but its for sale if any one interested rjsmsampaio@gmail.com

Posted at 10:30 am on Jan 28th, 2008 by Ricardo Sampaio

a thermal/solar water pump

Posted at 10:47 am on Jan 28th, 2008 by tamper

I think a really detailed approach to making a CNC machine for PCB production or light material work would be brilliant. A CNC machine is every hackers dream, but they are VERY heftily priced.

Posted at 11:08 am on Jan 28th, 2008 by Edd

would it be possible to setup a little wiki or something similiar to collect thoughts on these projects? i’m happy so many people are interested in usb logic analyzers/oscilloscopes, because i think they are one of the most important things to debug electronics and microcontrollers, and cheap implementations are rare.
this implementation is cheap, but lacks some important features: http://www.rockylogic.com/products/ant8.html
it is fpga based. a sampling speed of 100mhz or more would be nice.

Posted at 11:23 am on Jan 28th, 2008 by julian

I did it!…on yahoogroups.com

Group name: hackaday
Group home page:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/hackaday
Group email: hackaday@yahoogroups.com

Join by emailing

hackaday-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

the send email to the list at

hackaday@yahoogroups.com

email addresses will be visible to the
group so that full polls features will
be available. post accordingly.

only groups members will be able to
post–to keep spam down, and to be able
to block anyone who spams the list.

only members will be able to access the
archive, to keep the spam bot harvesters
at bay.

replies go to all, no attachments–to
foster sketches and how-tos being
deposited into the *files* section.

police yourselves, boys and girls, and
have fun,

(/|\) Peace,

dr doug

Posted at 11:50 am on Jan 28th, 2008 by dr doug

yeah yahoo sucks, I’d perfer a WIKI database on hackaday :)

Posted at 11:59 am on Jan 28th, 2008 by Edd

There are any number of nifty projects that could be worthwhile. A Wiki or something like it (think Wikipedia?) would help folks find info and waste less time.
For info on sampling rates and bandwidth here’s a link:
http://zone.ni.com/devzone/cda/tut/p/id/4333#toc0

Posted at 12:09 pm on Jan 28th, 2008 by jay M

A doomsday machine.

Posted at 12:31 pm on Jan 28th, 2008 by bigdoggie

How about a the ultimate resource website (Hackaday is great but could be more powerful). Kind of like a Library of Congress for hackers were you could look up how-to’s, circuit diagrams, programs and source code, and so on. With a site like this I believe you could make enough information available and easy enough to find about USB, attenuators, A/D converters, Data storage, and memory that a decent hacker could build his own USB digital storage o-scope and logic analyser. And he wouldn’t need to duplicate the research another great hacker has already done.

Posted at 12:41 pm on Jan 28th, 2008 by Dan

By popularity…

1) Hacks for noobs.
2) Oscilloscope / Analyzer watcha-ma-jiggie
3) Real Transformers already.

Where are the flying cars I was supposed to be pimping in by now, anyways?

Posted at 12:59 pm on Jan 28th, 2008 by Jonas

I wrote a huge essay about what I thought we should gather and do, but I decided to “fuck it” and choose this instead:
we should make an open hardware website. Submission of ideas, and voting along with profiles that list what we can do (merdge into a main thing that shows the groups ability. You opt out by saying you’re currently busy, or available.)

Simple.

The group is dynamic, easy to figoure out who can do what, and the greater group decides what we work on. Collective hacking anyone?

Posted at 1:08 pm on Jan 28th, 2008 by Life2Death

Another for the logic analyzer/scope. And easily upgradeable so we can teach it to decode waveforms (RS-232, etc) on the fly too.

Posted at 1:46 pm on Jan 28th, 2008 by Alex

Another vote for a Hardware-Hacking-for-noobs ebook. I never cease to be awed by the coolness of the things that turn up on this site, but I really don’t know where to begin!

Posted at 1:46 pm on Jan 28th, 2008 by Sam

For those of you looking for an “easy to build cnc” this was on another site last week.

http://www.instructables.com/id/Easy-to-Build-Desk-Top-3-Axis-CNC-Milling-Machine/

Posted at 1:53 pm on Jan 28th, 2008 by Shawn

I’m wondering if combining a bubblejet printer and powdered sugar as a medium would be a way to build a 3d printer like this one http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yyZtBYG0QOg Would be very cool to produce high definition colored prototypes of just about anything.

Posted at 2:00 pm on Jan 28th, 2008 by trabnaj

How about if we try to hack together an electric car? Not a kit but actually a home made car from the ground up.

Posted at 2:05 pm on Jan 28th, 2008 by greenhacker

Hey great! I was just reading some of the other suggestions and I see that Matt beat me to it at #72 has exactly the same idea! I think a 3d powder printer would have a lot higher definition then the open source reprap/fabathome printer and maybe it would even be cheaper! downside is you can’t mix printing materials for example to create leads for electrical circuits.

Posted at 2:23 pm on Jan 28th, 2008 by trabnaj

I really like the logic analyzer bit. (post #3) But maybe we can think one step higher than a logic analyzer/oscope doo-dad.

How about an open-source modular test equipment frame? A large (enough)test platform that can accept all kinds of (open source) inputs feed it to various analysis modules which would output to various module like VGA or DVI or a 2D/3D printer or USB or whatever:

modular input(s) for oscopes, logic analysis, rf analysis, network, wifi, bluetooth, etc. – a couple per frame

multiple, high/low bandwidth analysis modules – say three or so per frame – that compute/render data from the inputs – so if you wanted a 5Ghz scope, we could build plans for it and it simply would be a more expensive ADC/DAC module problem – not a problem with changing the whole unit. Software

multiple high bandwidth outputs – standardize the fram outputs with USB/Serial, Video, DVI, VGA, etc. The module will do the microprocessing to render the ouputs – so an upgrade here would also be a (relatively) minor upgrade. Maybe specs for micro-PC options.

I am game for it. We can use standard communication test equipment protocols and standardize the enclosures for something cheap – NEMA encloseures or similar.

I say we vote on the top 5 ideas – and get started. How long are we planning to accept comments on this?

Posted at 2:46 pm on Jan 28th, 2008 by aerospike

I have lots of programming experience, but no hardware experience. I would love seeing a small DIY tut on how to get started with programmable chips.
I think a series of “how to get started in….” would be nice…
Programmable chips
Hardware hacking
O-scope reading
Chip reading(decompiling/decoding)
ect….

Posted at 3:52 pm on Jan 28th, 2008 by gehan gehale

I would like to see a combination USB oscope, spectrum analyzer, signal generator.

Posted at 4:22 pm on Jan 28th, 2008 by Mike

@72: there is a powder-based 3D printer already, by zcorp (zcorp.com). There we have a design to go on. It uses a kind of glue to hold layers of corn starch powder together. finishing move is cleanup, then layers of epoxy resin to keep it from crumbling.

Also, if any main members in the hackaday community are willing to help out, I have 600GB of webspace leased for two years into the future. I’m probably only ever going to use 10 of them. That leaves 590 GB of space. Subdomains are unlimited in number, got full FTP, etc. Hostmonster.com is my host. Anyone interested in setting up this wiki/forum hybrid we keep mentioning, feel free to contact me at dash.merc [gmail(dot)com]. Fill in the rest yourself (spambots will never touch me! HAHA!)

…and here’s my vote for #3. Prohibitive cost is, well, prohibitive. Let’s fix that.

Posted at 4:33 pm on Jan 28th, 2008 by Dash

…Let me correct myself. I have 1,500 GB of space, not 600. I think there’s more than enough space for ANYTHING we might want to do. (sorry for double-posting, but it seemed important)

Posted at 4:37 pm on Jan 28th, 2008 by Dash

I’d like to second the idea of a comprehensive guide to hardware hacking. While I am familiar with basics, I have little idea of how to select components and established methods of developing common circuits.

Posted at 4:39 pm on Jan 28th, 2008 by sevets

…and zcorp is the same brand as contex, thus proving why I should have *watched* that youtube video *before* posting. I suck at forethought.

I am in a similar position as [sevets], in that I have enough basic knowledge to get me going, but I suck at everything else. There seems to be a lack of intelligent help on the topic of learning electronics without taking a class (for the price of a class, I could buy an o-scope).

Posted at 4:50 pm on Jan 28th, 2008 by Dash

so when is the next DARPA Grand Challenge?

Posted at 5:34 pm on Jan 28th, 2008 by SexieWASD

robotics would be easier to distribute to different teams – i would love a bot that vacuums/mops my floor, mows the lawn, does laundry, acts as a security device, greets people (recognize IR sigs!), can go up/down stairs, avoids people/pets, heck–sinchuwas up get me a beer!

Posted at 5:53 pm on Jan 28th, 2008 by shwa

#82: Yes, there is Z-Corp with a $60k printer. Just as there are many companies selling expensive (or very cheap and bad) USB scopes. The hack is using a $80 off-the-shelf printer, mounting the horizontal bar on gears and a track ($10) and using some thread and wood to lower the powder box ($10). Rapid prototyping for $100.

#80: yes, you can compine both methods. Create the groves with ink in the powder, use a stream of air (pipe attached to printhead) to blow the powder from the grove, then fill the grove with wahtever you can push through a pin hole. Tadaaa, wires.

Posted at 5:57 pm on Jan 28th, 2008 by Matt

I always wanted to hack the bluetooth on my Old Motorola razor phone and transmit a video feed of the camera to a remote location, wireless of course. We need a spy hack section on this site. Please. And then a counter-spy section…

Posted at 6:04 pm on Jan 28th, 2008 by Golddigger

How about a coffee roaster interface module – the hardware would have outputs for fan speed and heater element (possibly relays), and input from a thermocouple. Heck, throw an input on there for a scale to weigh the beans.

This interface would connect to a host computer via USB and have a simple protocol and set of open programs to drive it. A PID can be implemented in software;

The user puts the green coffee on the scale, enters the variety into the program; then puts the beans in the roaster, selects a level of roast and hits GO. The software can drive the roaster from a profile based on the bean, pre-roast weight, and desired level of roast. The software drives the roaster. Once done, the user puts the beans back on the scale to measure the post-roast weight and all is logged in a database, ready for the cupping notes.

Other sensors could be added, such as an audio input with DSP for detecting the cracks, and a colorometer. With a simple interface, a variety of commercially available or homebrew roasters could be hacked up;

By moving all the software to a host computer, a simple kit could be assembled by Joe Homeroaster with no embedded programming required; Desktop software for unix would easily interface to a library to drive the roaster. Simple programs would be easy to write, complex ones possible, leading to an integrated database for automated notekeeping and reproducibility of roasts.

And it would be an enabling technology for more hacking.

Posted at 6:09 pm on Jan 28th, 2008 by Allon

Since most DIYers are probably night persons and have a hard time getting out of bed, like me ;), i would suggest an open ALARM CLOCK project.

Some IOs for different sensors and actuators like:
weight sensor beneath the bed, which only turns off the alarm when you get out of bed.
Outputs for different kinds of wake up machinery,
like big 250W lamps above your head, some big electrical bell, etc.
Special features like RC5 (IR) interface for controlling your amp to slowly turn up the volume
of your radio.
Input of heartrate to monitor your sleeping state
in order to only wake you up when you are in the state of light sleep and dont have a hard time getting out of bed.

Posted at 6:10 pm on Jan 28th, 2008 by marc

How ’bout build a spaceship? Currently we need web developers among other things. Visit the site, and if interested give me an email to help build the website.
cafamr@gmail.com

Posted at 6:17 pm on Jan 28th, 2008 by cafamr

I really like the idea of the modular robotics platform but the problem that I think is harder is a cheap local telemetry platform.

In my opinion the greatest hindrance to robotics is a detailed positioning system. If you could make a Local Positioning System(LPS) for under 150$ that would be revolutionary.

I’m talking about +- 1″ don’t want to be mowing the neighbor’s flower bed.

My current idea would be to tune to multiple radio stations(6-8) and get power ratings and map the change in power across the area. I don’t know how technical feasible this is but I think that the problem would be a great challenge for the community.

Posted at 6:24 pm on Jan 28th, 2008 by neuromancer2701

another vote for the USB o-scope.

Posted at 7:04 pm on Jan 28th, 2008 by gaffertape

I was thinking the Google Lunar X Prize http://www.GoogleLunarXPrize.org/

Posted at 7:44 pm on Jan 28th, 2008 by Almost_There

I think everyone should get together and MAKE MICROSOFT ACTUALLY WORK!

That, or hack a doorknob to taze people.

Posted at 8:00 pm on Jan 28th, 2008 by Austin

an o-scope would be pretty cool, but i’d have to vote for some form of a data base, including pinouts for some of the more commonly used stuff. with all the time i seem to spend trying to find/map pinouts for my projects, i could be done already.

Posted at 8:18 pm on Jan 28th, 2008 by th3 m43

#6 please. noobs build generations. that said, i see that the majority of noise is for the o-scope so why not do both? don’t hackers love to have multiple projects to satisfy short attention spans?

Posted at 8:21 pm on Jan 28th, 2008 by delta9

@doug parker: re diy intercom from cordless phones.

Seen this? http://www.instructables.com/id/Build-your-own-intercom-or-walkie-talkie-out-of-tw/

Posted at 8:30 pm on Jan 28th, 2008 by Ed3

Hybrid open source Car (electric & Hydrogen)

Posted at 9:26 pm on Jan 28th, 2008 by Bengo

How about hacking the Leapfrog LEAPSTER educational game console…it’s a neat little handheld game console that uses FLASH apps. It would be awesome to be able to make games for my kids much more easily than one can on something like the Gameboy.

Posted at 9:50 pm on Jan 28th, 2008 by HUTCHz

how about a reasonable cost alternative energy vehicle. one that maybe ran on hydrogen/electricity with long lasting batteries.

Posted at 10:26 pm on Jan 28th, 2008 by kevin mcguigan

Organic garden minder. Analog signal-filtering using plastic F/O or found materials, or audio as a mesh network PHY. (Bug activity patrol, maybe sensor dust of typed bug traps for above and belowground vectors.) Also a seed saver and logger thing? It can winter as way/grotto lighting and POV political signage (down with cutworms!)

Pine aphid killer w/ macro camera or ’skycam’ counterpart to transmit to local low-power ATSC-OTA relay. (Or other such suburban flora disease mediation…and PETA horror show.)

NTSC/ATSC (-OTA) DAB (descriptive audio broadcast) micropower voice/data insurrection and forwarding architecture. (MST2.008K? A Party Line for the 2010s?)

Unattended yet human-powered mulcher/tiller for the 1/4 acre commons yarden?!?

Robot with 23-ton press that can cannily separate trash (metal rims from plastic bowls, etc.) to recyclables and mulch and stuff; crank out proper billets for recycling rather than giant unwieldy mildewy bags; open child-safe lids when child busy at sports; make stuff from _Gunm_.

Trunk that goes KRNK!bbrbbr without music, or to a’ capella.

Interpretive X11 (virtual/GLX screens) for those EeePC screens that’ll make ya blind otherwise, and for PSPs/Nintendo-DSes/Wii.

Frameworks for PnS camera reprogramming….

Analytic FM tuners. Dolby 6.1 for cellphone broadcasts….

Doggie electronic-distraction-collars (ZZZzzap!) which teach harmony. 4-part. Pentatonic.

Posted at 10:40 pm on Jan 28th, 2008 by benchpress

Flash/DVD/DVD-HD/BluRay data forensics (recovery) software.

Posted at 10:56 pm on Jan 28th, 2008 by benchpress

First and foremost, I agree with what others have said before me. I think that hackaday should have a both a wiki and a forum. This hardly constitutes community hacking project though…it’s more of the garden bed from which the community projects are going to grow out of, mutate, and take over the world…muhaha!

No seriously, I don’t think you have a hope in fostering any serious community project without the right tools to get the collaborative juices flowing. A wiki for the documentation and a forum for the discussion.

Posted at 11:01 pm on Jan 28th, 2008 by nullobject

Oscilloscope/Signal Analyser with USB. Definitely.

As encouragement for this community: yes, it can be done. And fairly cheaply. Similar projects (as linked in previous replies) have already been completed and are in continued development. All it takes is for us to actually do something about it. Let’s get moving.

@88: I realise that the zcorp printers are hardly affordable for any individual to afford. I was just making a pointer to application of the discussed technology, and providing an example of successful execution of the idea. The system they use to control it should be easy enough to implement without incurring their legal wrath, and as you said, it would simply be a print head modified to shoot glue or some other kind of bonding agent (followed up by a colouring agent, if necessary), a few basic scanner/printer motors and belt drive systems, and a couple of servos, including a little bit of control hardware, two tubs full of a white powder (Anthrax, Cocaine, take your pick) and a fan and/or air compressor/shopvac. Should I start drawing up plans?

Posted at 11:14 pm on Jan 28th, 2008 by Dash

coment on #3 if somone who is handy with programing and sound we could use a usb sound card. use the input from the sound card to analyze the prob input. if you are really lasy you could just use somthing like audacity to do some very simple analyse but you would be limited to about 3 volts p2p. well anyway it is just an idea…

Posted at 11:54 pm on Jan 28th, 2008 by camerin hahhn

this is my fourth post here, and I’ve been reading this thread for a while and considering it…

I really like the idea of a hacking wiki, why not make it a home for hackaday’ers and other.
It could have a begineers guide, request page, personal hacks page, and they could all be linked via relavent meta tags.

Call it the hacker’s mecca or whatever, but a single website coalescing every hacker out there, that could make a difference, and be the launching pad for future projects… o-scope EV spaceship transformerrobot whatever your heart desires.

Posted at 12:03 am on Jan 29th, 2008 by afbcom

re: #3
um in responce to my prior comment there is allready software avalable all over the internet. now the problem isnt getting the signal it is keeping the signal from burning out the soundcard. a friend and i are working on it currently i will update later. or current idea is to run a series of input plugs. each of them set for a certain range. if the input voltage is too high it would just chop off the wave form at a preset voltage.(im thinking voltage regulator of sorts, first i have to check and see how different regulators will react to voltages below their rated voltage.) in any case we’ll work on it and submit the final results. ill try to document with pictures of each step. well luck all

Posted at 12:17 am on Jan 29th, 2008 by camerin hahhn

How about we collaborate and make a roll your own linux distro. (a nice hacking distro, not bloated with kde-wants-to-be-vista crap, but good utilities, standard use software included: OO, Firefox w/flash azureus (for legal p2p for downloading free stuff like other linux distros–we do not condone illegal activities) lime wire (for legal stuff only of course) wine (for the windows refugees) and the ability to use a joystick for a mouse (b/c its cool) etc… speed/memory efficient (like damn small linux) and all the “network security” utilities (like auditor) and of course doom (shareware & wad selector–for those of use w/full version). (YAY DOOM)

willing to contribute what free time i can.
(as a full-time student realize im limited on time)
despoteuodia@mailsheep.com

Posted at 12:49 am on Jan 29th, 2008 by despot

@104: if you take the right plaster, ink is already a sufficient bondig agent. There are crazy products out there that are much tougher than the common “plaster of paris”. But of course the choice of material alone could fill a wiki.

@108: there are currently about 200 Linux distros out there in the wild. None of them matches your taste?

But I also have to admit that a USB Scope/Logic Analyser is very tempting!

Posted at 4:40 am on Jan 29th, 2008 by Matt

I really think that you should look into the GNU Radio project, it has already oscope module. surely it could be hacked to be more fitting?

Posted at 8:32 am on Jan 29th, 2008 by zokier

my second post to this thread: It seamse to me that this discussion has exposed several limitations of such a grand plan…
PC o-scope/logic analyzer – been done several times, to varying degrees of ‘professional quality.’ Also, as it turns out, there are several products in the market with reasonable price tags.

A lot of people have pointed out that such a project needs to be universally appealing, and if at all possible, something that will help/change the world. Good point.
Likewise, a lot of others have simply posted their own wish list of projects. Many of them are only appealing/usefull to a select group of people.

As for a noob book, the question here is not “does anyone know how to hack? The qestion is “what does this noob want to hack?” A proper noob hack guide is only relevent when the writer and the noob have the same goals. Do you want to make robots? Do you want to write software? do you want to make cardboard and duct tape laptop cases? (swing over to make*dot*com for that one.. trust me, its there.)

More and more it sounds like our own forum is the way to go. Hack-A-Day is great, but its time for the next evolution. It could be *so* much more: A repository for finished hacks (a la current incarnation), a repository for ideas and stubs, as well as feasability discussions, group organization, etc.

remember: there are no new ideas, only new ways to use the old ones. invinting the bicicyle powered water pump was nothing special. it’s just attaching one to the other. Dropping 1000 of them into remote african villages *is* a good idea.

Posted at 9:01 am on Jan 29th, 2008 by MRE

I think that with a good telemetry system a lot of basic robotics projects could be done, focusing on more detailed issues. Strawberry picking robot anyone.

Posted at 12:38 pm on Jan 29th, 2008 by neuromancer2701

Community-designed PCB with i.e. ARM9 controller that can run LINUX.

Possibilities are endless:
-home made linux computer!
-multimedia devices
-home automation
-and so on.

In fact it is not as hard as it sounds (people have already done it). However, a PCB that is modular and can be made AT HOME would be great.

Posted at 12:44 pm on Jan 29th, 2008 by Lucidan

How about building a 3d printer or a Von Neumann Universal constructor? Or how about hacking a cricut paper cutter to cut any pattern? As for a modular robotics platform, here’s one: http://www.molecubes.org/

Posted at 1:58 pm on Jan 29th, 2008 by Joh

I’ll chime in support for the 3d printer idea. The idea, as mentioned, is very similar to the project at http://www.candyfab.org with the exceptions that instead of an inert powder (plaster) with a binding agent (ink), they’re using a melt-able powder (sugar) and a heat projecting print head focused to as fine a point as possible.

My suggestion would be to change the media from sugar to a suitably cheap/strong thermoplastic as can be found in the form of some plastic based blasting media (a.k.a. sand blasting media). I also suggest using focused light rather than, slowly moving, hot air as candyfab is presently working with. They’ve been having problems with even the lowest velocity print head blowing the powder around, especially as the powder grit increases. By “focused light”, I mean to differentiate it from laser as focused light would only be at it’s full intensity at one, fine, point while a laser powerful enough to work presents a threat to eyesight even at long distances.

Posted at 2:41 pm on Jan 29th, 2008 by colecoman1982

Some good ideas,
BUT I think a software project would be more realistic, as geography doesn’t matter that much when coding…
How can you make a group work on hardware? Who’s gonna invest anything in a project you’re too far away to even really participate?
And there’s a lot of options for software projects…
Would love to chip in for a lil’ soft project if it’s interesting..

Posted at 3:18 pm on Jan 29th, 2008 by NNM

@118: yes, I tried to implement the sugar melting hot air gun solutuion, but sugar gets blown all over the place. One solution was to use an open flame which melted the sugar nicely, but the resulting model is sticky and dissolves in water. I discovered a plastic coated fine sand. melting point at 200 deg C, but could not get a sufficiently hot bundled light source yet. Promising though.

The plaster solution has the advantage of being *much* faster and allowing high resolution color models.

Posted at 4:09 pm on Jan 29th, 2008 by Matt

#120: I agree with the general idea, but I’ve thought of hacking the vSmile – it’s an Arm7 based video console for kids, available in both console and portable versions with built-in LCD. This could be an excellent platform; they have a joystick, a button, four more buttons, video out, audio out; the later models have built in mic’s. The cartridges use a simple edge connector. And they’re relatively inexpensive.

Posted at 6:30 pm on Jan 29th, 2008 by allon

modular emp

Posted at 7:33 pm on Jan 29th, 2008 by dylan

I’d go for the logic analyzer. Would be nice if it could do something in the order of GHz though. (external clock) Multi IO standards.
Add some fast ADCs for oscilloscope feature. Could be optional.

Posted at 2:28 am on Jan 30th, 2008 by DarkFader

…bot to put all the comments on one page []

Posted at 4:16 am on Jan 30th, 2008 by benchpress

Although I’m sure the applications of a usb/logic tester/ oscillioscope would be grand and wide, it doesn’t compare (nor fit thematically) with the robot platform. It’s just easier to see that as something a COMMUNITY could contribute and enjoy. And it’s friggin ROBOTS, man!

Posted at 2:08 pm on Jan 30th, 2008 by groovyMysterioso

For an example what a community or cooperative effort can wrought see http://www.amateurlogic.com/blog/ . Yes a bit corny. cheesy, or what ever the term is, that the kiddies use these days. But it shows that individuals separated by long distances can put out a product.

Posted at 4:06 pm on Jan 30th, 2008 by Doug

AVR disassembler/decompiler?

actually, i like the idea of some sort of automated pcb maker that would allow you to just click print in KiCad/GEDA/etc and out comes a professionalish looking PCB, although i have a bad feeling if that was attempted it would end up being rather “Rube Goldberg”esque

Posted at 4:14 pm on Jan 30th, 2008 by Calgar

I found this page:
http://www.indoor.flyer.co.uk/3dprint.htm
this guy is actually trying to built a 3d printer like the zcorp printer using a inkjet printer. Very interesting stuff. We should help him. A 3d printer can create a lot of the hardware needed for project.

Posted at 5:03 pm on Jan 30th, 2008 by trabnaj

A universal guide for hackers to hook up laptop LCDs to PCs.

Posted at 6:57 pm on Jan 30th, 2008 by Edward Nardella

If you want an inexpensive o-scope, check this one out http://www.GeoCities.com/Minimalist_Oscilloscope_08M_Proj/

good luck!
Almost_There

Posted at 7:50 pm on Jan 30th, 2008 by Almost_There

This sounds amazing.

Posted at 10:06 pm on Jan 30th, 2008 by Leetster

What about home automation?

The open source vCrib (http://www.vcrib.com)software makes a great control platform. Together we could decide on a common communication approach, perhaps using IP.

The contribution of individuals would then be to either further vCrib or to build and share devices among the group.

The only problem with a group effort like this is that we have no central project manager. With a home automation project, once a standard is in place there is no need for a PM.

Posted at 5:14 pm on Jan 31st, 2008 by SelfSync

A -reverse- gear IP block for 3d-printed doomsday machines? Whatever those are?

Something that can read a knot of faded thermal-printed receipts and put them on the books?

Liver cirrhosis acupuncture turrets.

Posted at 6:44 pm on Jan 31st, 2008 by benchpress

If it can be made road legal and built without requiring anything thats hard to obtain or really expensive, I vote for the “alternate energy source car”.

The “guide to reverse engineering and component reuse” sounds very good too.

Something else that would be nice would be a universal video capture device that can take inputs from DVI, HDMI, Component, RGB, S-Video and Composite as well as being able to decode both analog NTSC and digital ATSC formats. Bonus points if it can decode PAL and/or DVB-T for those of us living in the other half of the world.

Could connect to the PC via USB for easy use and would be capable of removing/ignoring/talking HDCP, Macrovision, Broadcast Flags and any other DRM crap.

It should be built to be 100% open source (hardware and software) so that no matter what DRM Hollywood tries to ram down our throats, this card can always be adapted to defeat it and continue to capture raw video from whatever is available.

Or go one step further and reverse engineer CableCard and build the first (and only) device capable of supporting CableCard in a way that isn’t locked down. (note that I am not suggesting trying to steal cable service, just access the service you paid for through a device capable of supporting the features YOU want, not the features the cable company have decided you can have)

Posted at 10:26 pm on Jan 31st, 2008 by Jonathan Wilson

apparently, you have been listened to. http://wiki.hackaday.com and http://forum.hackaday.com both report “coming soon” messages.

hacking primer – amazing
Volume 1 teaches basic skills. Later ‘volumes’ could be released focusing on specifics: robotics 3, reverse engineering 1… allowing those with specific skills to teach others in the community and foster growth. the goal of finalized volumes being key i think.

modular development platforms -
setting a standard for interoperability between these may be a good idea. robotics plaform interfaces with communication plaform – robot txts me to say unauthorized entry to my home, breakfast is ready, etc.

fresh idea –
robotic bartender – chills liquids, dispenses ice, shakes and/or stirs, adds garnish. (vending machine style keypad code entry for drink creation) self cleaning would be sweet.

-m7stic

Posted at 10:43 pm on Jan 31st, 2008 by m7tics

I was recently employed at the local library as a page (someone who shelves the books) and pretty much everyday i spend 2 hours looking over the books people checked in the day before and putting them in proper order. When i was looking at the thousand and some odd books the other day, i began to think about it and i think that a giant rig for checking the books in and scrolling around the shelves (if they were all pushed together) putting the books in order would be a tremendous help in library’s across America, making the possibility of having one library for all of the books ever published a reality. I believe this process could be completely automated starting with scanning a barcode on the book (which would check the it in to the system), and ending with putting it in the correct order on the shelf. With enough work i think this would be feasable, and actually quite easy to make with enough of “Hack-a-days hacking community” working on it. Also im not sure that this has been done before, but im betting that it hasn’t on a commercial level but maybe a homebrew model is out there.

Posted at 2:24 am on Feb 1st, 2008 by Tony

A pocket sized video/audio/waveform test signal generator would be nice to test “out in the field” computer monitors, televisions, audio equipment, etc. before purchasing from used equipment stores.

Posted at 3:37 pm on Feb 1st, 2008 by russ

A simple, upgradeable phone. Bio-friendly, recycled components as much as possible. It’s time we all stopped changing phones every 6 months and keep one for life, or as long as possible. Upgrades from a website, plug it in or update over wi-fi. All unnecessary junk stripped out.

Posted at 12:41 pm on Feb 2nd, 2008 by Gee

A exoskeleton performance enhancment suit. If anyone wants to make one give me a shout at hairy_pot_head101@hotmail.com

Posted at 2:54 pm on Feb 3rd, 2008 by Deepus

I haven’t been through all the comments but there’s one thing I’ve been dreaming of and will surely become everybody’s reality soon : a trash processing unit for households. The idea’s a bit unrealistic but waste management will soon be everyone’s concern and recycling is such a hassle… So the way I see it, is a centralized process wich accept any type of trash that sorts everything at the end, metals from organics, from plastics, etc. This prject involves many disciplines wich might be out of this site’s range but wouldn’t it be great to never have to worry about trashing anymore ?

Posted at 11:39 am on Feb 4th, 2008 by MikE

I agree with an abstraction system for PIC and AVR, though it should also be designed from the beginning to be extensible to other processors as well. Both PIC and AVR have 32 bit processors so support for them is a must. Within 2 years if not less there will be 64 bit processors so we might as well future proof ourselves and plan for that. It would be great if we could make a tool set that would be able to interface with other compilers and support multiple existing languages so we could for instance have a program that uses libraries written in C and Basic. Also the compiler(or interpreter) should be able to take multiple different languages so that if one hacker wants to write in basic and another prefers C or Python it shouldn’t be a problem.

I also agree that we should definitely set up a wiki and a forum, I like the idea of a hacking wiki but even before that we at least need a nice place to collaborate on choosing a project, or at least presenting our ideas nicely.

Posted at 8:50 pm on Feb 5th, 2008 by Seth

@whoever mentioned wiki.hackaday.com and forum.hackaday.com say “coming soon”, all subdomains which don’t currently exist say that… See p910N,hackaday.com

Anyway, ideas:
-A 3D printer, or throwing support behind reprap/fab@home would of course be cool…
-A hardware mediated reality interface… Set up a cheap (cellphone-style) and a head-mounted display such that one can see the world around them through the display, then set IO to output the camera, and to draw on top of what it already seen.
-A printer-style fast PCB mill.
-Extracting aluminum/plastics from recyclables one’s self.
-Of course the o-scope and beginner docs would be nice… But I have a few misgivings about the oscilloscope (it seems that it would be a long, grueling process… Most would probably lose interest within a week)

-A Collaborative project where only one model of a particularly complex creation is created with multiple contributors shipping in parts/code. This would let us produce things where cost would otherwise be a barrier.
-An open competitive project a project where everyone releases their designs to everyone else to compete towards some goal. The ones with the most stolen from them, as well as the best in the competition would win prizes.

Example collaborative projects (as above):
-A solar car to compete in solar car (drag) races.
-A DARPA challenge style autonomous vehicle.
-A green car built from the ground up.
-An entry into any competition in which established companies/universities are traditionally the only competitors.
-A home-made Aibo.

Example open competitive projects (as above):
-Battlebots/any other sort of traditional robot sport.
-Some sort of general survival-based contest… (i.e. robots building fires that last the longest or obtaining the most hotdogs)
-competitive roomba-cleaning would be cool… (We could probably get some iRobot sponsorship)
-lego-building robot competition, robots shown a simple picture and must build the what is shown to the best of their ability.

Posted at 7:45 pm on Feb 7th, 2008 by Tiak

How about an ebook reader like the kindle and the eee pc custom built hardware and software with built in touchpad wireless for email and internet?

Shmoe

Posted at 7:29 pm on Feb 13th, 2008 by pown

#15 agreed. Though with tuna cats are weak and helpless.

- I think the “Intro to Hardware Hacking” is a great idea, but more like a community oriented book from everything to the basics to very advanced ideas focusing more on theory and philosophy of Hardware Hacking then anything else.

- Or, A fleet of large, self sustaining, unmanned aerial vehicle with a radio receiver and encrypted transmitter as well as a pound of explosives rigged to a tamper detecting switch right above the loaded .50 caliber with laser guided tracking system. Hardware hackers could start a new world order!

- Less evil/maniacal though: Various design of custom IC,Processor,Memory chips built around the fucntion of various theories of AI. i.e Neural Networking, Genetic Algorithms. Then integrating them functionaly into a Controller board.

Posted at 1:31 am on Feb 17th, 2008 by crosst

How about this, instead of thinking somewhat in the box as to what would be easy to concept the construction of, Think about the movie “paycheck”, when the guy thar sells his intelect and looses his memory afterwards builds the holographic monitor, well lack of monitor in that case, but if you think about it that would be a VERY possible thing, Combining the skills of hackers ANYWHERE, combine their knowledge of different OS/Computer components, then add the side dish of their “outside the box” thinking, the Holografic projecter comes in at a VERY possible angle. I mean think about it, You get a cilindrical computer setup, think hexigon, make it like a dog bowl, so that it dips in on the inside at set angles, you set all of the needed computer hardware on the inside, add some usb ports, if you wanted oldschool some Ps2 ports, A BAD ASS Nvidia Graphix card (Yes that may have to be modified to fit the peramiters of the hologram), then, because we are making it, some LED’s around the base just for some flash, (gotta have style with intellectual design). Now for the inner bowl, you set up mirrors, or some type of reflective Anything in the middle at the right angles, you set up lasers just like the ones in a TV at the right spots, and you set up the peramiters for the lasers I.E. the strength of the lightflow, the colors, the basics, the right way, set either a convex plane of glass over top, (or crystal), and BAM you have yourself one of the first Holographic computers in history, not only have you breached the lines into a new Era of technology, but think of the other advances that would come shortly after that.
You would get an amazing upgrade in the medical world, the monitors would not only be able to show WHAT is wrong with the person and WHERE but you would get that added sence of not having to use only the computer to measure the issue, see what was around the problems, the works.
Our militairy capabilities would be completely reworked, enhanced landscaping for the battlefields, things like that.
Last but not least, you would be breaking the water to a WHOLE new type of gaming, Can I hear anyone say virtual reality, not in the sence of a headset and confined area… in the sence of a ROOM with your own virtual world, with the right adjustments and advances of course.
I just want to hear what you think of all that I have said, if anyone will be reading this.

I am eagerly waiting to hear from you.
Instead of waiting for confirmation that you saw this by coming back to this site constantly, post your comments on this here, but also send some to my email address.
Wyspir3191@yahoo.com

Hope to hear from you all.
Tim

Posted at 9:18 pm on Oct 12th, 2008 by Tim

This guy above me has way too much imagination.
i like that.
Thats what the world needs, really, dreams can become reality if you work hard to make them true.

I would help you, but im just a web developer and programer.
if anything needed halla at yo boy
mrlilrick@gmail.com

Posted at 2:38 pm on Oct 23rd, 2008 by mrlilrick

Another cool article!! u r so cool!!

Posted at 1:34 am on Nov 13th, 2008 by abass

Since quite a few handheld devices now have very useable graphic displays on then, how about a device with a graphical display, using a smart-card to configure it? That way you could use it as an oscilloscope, logic analyser, etc. just by slipping in the apropriate card.

Posted at 2:10 pm on Apr 28th, 2009 by Kit