The Joy Of Properly Designed Embedded Systems

The ages-old dream of home automation has never been nearer to reality. Creating an Internet of Things device or even a building-wide collection of networked embedded devices is “easy” thanks to cheap building blocks like the ESP8266 WiFi-enabled microcontroller. Yet for any sizable project, it really helps to have a …read more

Ask Hackaday: How Do You Draw Schematics?

The lingua franca of electronic design is the schematic. I can pick up a datasheet written in Chinese (a language I do not read or speak) and usually get a half-decent idea of what the part is all about from the drawings. Unfortunately, even as my design experience has grown …read more

The CD Is 40, The CD Is Dead

The Compact Disc is 40 years old, and for those of us who remember its introduction it still has that sparkle of a high-tech item even as it slides into oblivion at the hands of streaming music services.

If we could define a moment at which consumers moved from analogue …read more

Hands-On: New Nvidia Jetson Nano is More Power In A Smaller Form Factor

Today, Nvidia released their next generation of small but powerful modules for embedded AI. It’s the Nvidia Jetson Nano, and it’s smaller, cheaper, and more maker-friendly than anything they’ve put out before.

The Jetson Nano follows the Jetson TX1, the TX2, and the Jetson AGX Xavier, all very capable platforms, …read more

Es’hail-2: Hams Get Their First Geosynchronous Repeater

In the radio business, getting the high ground is key to covering as much territory from as few installations as possible. Anything that has a high profile, from a big municipal water tank to a roadside billboard to a remote hilltop, will likely be bristling with antennas, and different services …read more

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Not All Raspberry Pi Laptops Have QWERTY Keyboards And Screens

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By Jenny List | March 26, 2019

Our recent coverage of a Raspberry Pi Zero inside the official Pi keyboard prompted a reader to point us to another far more unusual keyboard with a Pi Zero inside it. It may be a couple of years old, but [Mario Lang]’s Braille keyboard and display with built-in Pi is …read more
WiFi Your Door Lock With An ESP

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By Brian Benchoff | March 25, 2019

The Internet of Things is upon us, and with that comes a deluge of smart cameras, smart home monitors, and smart home locks. There actually aren’t many smarts in these smart conveniences, and you can easily build your own. That’s what [MakerMan] did with some off-the-shelf parts and just a …read more
Easy Git Repository Summaries With Web-git-sum

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By Donald Papp | March 25, 2019

For those hosting their own git repositories there are a number of solutions for creating convenient web-accessible front ends, but [mitxela] wasn’t quite satisfied with any of them. After trying a number of alternatives and reflecting on his requirements, he realized that all he really needed was a summary page …read more
Testing A Battery-Powered Mini Spot Welder

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By Donald Papp | March 25, 2019

Did you ever see a thin metal tab bonded to a battery terminal with little pock marks? That’s the work of a spot welder. Spot welding is one of those processes that doesn’t offer much in the way of alternatives; either one uses a spot welder to do the job …read more
This Force Controlled Robot Gripper Is Less Likely To Break Stuff

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By Lewin Day | March 25, 2019

While robotic arms can handle a wide variety of tasks, the specific job at hand will have a major influence on the type of end effector used. For sorting ferromagnetic parts an electromagnet might be enough, while for more accurate location a mechanical gripper could be employed. If you’re working …read more
Hacker Abroad: Cellphone Repair in Huaqiangbei and a Huge Meetup at Seeed

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By Mike Szczys | March 25, 2019

Shenzhen, China is the home of the legendary electronics markets of Huaqiangbei. Friday was my first full day in the city, having spent the previous three days in Shanghai. We got a little bit of a late start as our flight didn’t arrive until after 1 am and we stayed …read more
Making The World’s Fastest 555 Timer, Or Using A Modern IC Version

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By Ted Yapo | March 25, 2019

If you’re not familiar with the 555 timer, suffice it to say that this versatile integrated circuit is probably the most successful ever designed, and has been used in countless designs, many of which fall very far afield from the original intent. From its introduction, the legendary 555 has found …read more