Laser Command Game Uses Laser For Control

May 4, 2010 by Mike Szczys 31 Comments

[vimeo=http://vimeo.com/10819322]

[Eliji Hayashi’s] project for a class at Carnegie Mellon University is absolutely delightful! It is a game he calls Laser Command because a laser pointer is used as the gaming controller. An 8×8 LED matrix serves as the display, but is also used as an 8×8 light sensor, much the same way as the LED advent project did. The display is rapidly switched between producing light and sensing it. The laser is bright enough that it becomes easy to pick up the voltage generated within the matrix during the sensing periods. The game is programmed on an Arduino mini and the whole thing wraps up into an incredibly small package. Brilliant.

[Thanks Juan]

Print Toner Directly To A PCB

May 4, 2010 by Mike Szczys 33 Comments

We use the toner transfer method to fabricate printed circuit boards. The most difficult part of this is printing, ironing, and removing the paper from the toner that is used as an etchant resist material. [Mark Lerman] is developing a method to apply toner directly to the copper clad using a laser printer. Each of the photos in his gallery have comments that take us through his process. A laser printer has been modified to negatively charge the copper plate, thereby attracting the positively charged toner to it. Once the toner has been applied, the board is baked in an oven, then run through a laminator. This process can yield 2 mil traces and it looks like the potential for incredibly clean boards is just around the corner. The question is, will this be easier and take less time than using photo resist?

We’ve contacted [Mark] in hopes of getting more details. If you can’t wait for a follow-up, take a look at this thread concerning his work.

[Thanks Komradbob]

QFN Or MLF Soldering Without Solder Paste

May 4, 2010 by Caleb Kraft 22 Comments

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/v/c_Qt5CtUlqY&hl=en_US&fs=1&]

Take a few minutes to watch this amazingly informative video on how to solder QFN or MLF components without solder paste. The quality of the video and the information within is quite nice. Even if you don’t intend to work with these parts, you could pick up some tips for soldering with hot air.

EMG Controlled Prosthesis

May 4, 2010 by Mike Szczys 7 Comments

This prosthetic arm is the result of a student project. [Amnon Demri] and his classmates built it with below-the-elbow amputees in mind. It uses electromyography to actuate the fingers and wrist. Four stick-on sensors are placed around the elbow to sense electrical activity there. These signals are interpreted by a PIC 16f877a microcontroller which then controls the servo motors to operate the prosthetic limb. This sounds like a very economical solution and as you can see in the videos after the break, it works fairly well.

Continue reading “EMG Controlled Prosthesis” →

POV LED Sphere

May 4, 2010 by Caleb Kraft 11 Comments

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VF2dI7RiMVQ]

[Csaba Bleuer] has built this really nice POV LED sphere. Looking at the hand drawn schematic, it appears that he’s using an Atmega8 as the core. The resolution is pretty decent, and even shows fairly well on camera despite the refresh issues. Although much cleaner, it looks like a similar implementation to this one that we covered back in october of last year. He’s still got some polishing to do to match “the orb” though.

IPhone 3.1.3 Unteathered Jailbreak

May 3, 2010 by Mike Szczys 39 Comments

A method to Jailbreak the new 3.1.3 iPhone rom is here and it does away with tethering. Tethering is the problem that arose from the blackra1n exploit requiring a computer to reboot the iPhone. Although we saw a hardware workaround for that, it’s much nicer to do away with the issue completely. The new exploit is called Spirit and we found the site was getting hammered earlier so you should check out the writeup over at Redmond Pie if you can’t get through with the link at the top.

[Thanks Xb0xGuru via iPhone Hacks]

Automated Chicken Coop Door

May 3, 2010 by Caleb Kraft 42 Comments

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qUKIlZIZDqc]

Here’s a pretty cool implementation of an automated door, built for a chicken coop. The electronics are fairly standard, an Arduino and a used cordless drill. The end product will be not only wireless, but automated based off of ambient light as well. We also found the locking mechanism quite elegant. He also supplied a link to another automated chicken coop door which has a decent writeup with schematics and such. Next, he’ll have to automate their feeding as well.

[Thanks Jeri]