Year: 2011

Weekly Roundup 8/20/2011

August 20, 2011 by 6 Comments


In case you missed them, here are our biggest posts from the past week.

The post that drew the most attention this week was our own [Kevin Dady]’s post about how to install Linux on a 386. In this post, he talks about the process that he used to put a functional copy of Linux on an old 386 laptop.

Next up is a post about a robot dog that was found in an antique dealer’s shop in Paris. This post has a very active comment thread.

Following that is a post about a LED cuboid consisting of 2048 bi-color LEDs, which are all hand-soldered. This is definitely a testament to steady hands and a lot of patience.

Next is a hackaday-original video where [Jack] shows how to kill weeds using the transformer from a microwave oven. This one was controversial but like it or hate it, it was popular.

Last, we had a post about a very interesting hexapod. This robot adds a new spin on the hexapod theme by adding the ability to have all of the legs mechanically extend farther out from the center of the body. It also adds spherical shell pieces to the legs that allow it to transform from a walking to a rolling robot.

One final thought: If you are working on an interesting project, why not post your progress on our forums? Have a problem with something that you are working on? We have sections for that as well. Our forums aren’t too active at the moment but we have nearly 90,000 unique visitors at hackaday each and every day so all it may take to whip them into shape is for just a few of you to be early adopters. We would like to start featuring projects and interesting topics from our forums so this may be a way that your project could find its way onto our main page.

Homebrew Weather Station Plus A Pan And Tilt Camera Rig

August 20, 2011 by 6 Comments

[Sebastian] wrote in to share his web site, where he has a bunch of different electronics projects. After looking through them, we found a pair that we thought you might find interesting.

The first project is a homebrew weather monitoring station that [Sebastian] put together. He designed a weather shield, incorporating humidity, pressure and light sensors, along with digital I/O ports for monitoring an anemometer. The entire setup is powered using solar panels, and data is relayed to his computer via an Xbee.

The second item that caught our eye was a digital camera pan and tilt rig. The system was built using a Lynxmotion pan and tilt kit, which is controlled by an Arduino. The code he provides allows him to capture very large composite images without having to spend too much time “sewing” them together. While this second project mostly consists of schematics for a base plate and pan/tilt code, it struck us as something that could be very useful for any budding photographers looking to take panoramic shots.

All of the schematics and code for his projects are available on his site, so be sure to look around – you might find something interesting!

High Voltage Hacks: Shrinking Coins

August 20, 2011 by 22 Comments

The anthem for the Great Recession might be something along the lines of, “That we’re gonna do it anyway, even if doesn’t pay.” Some men just want to watch the world burn, so Hackerbot Labs posted a great walkthrough about shrinking coins and in the process making our pocket change worth just a little bit more.

Their build pushes 15,000 Joules (from a 10kV 300μF cap) through a coil of wire wrapped around a coin. This creates a magnetic field in the coil and the coin. These two fields repel each other, and there’s only one way that it can end: the coin shrinks and the coil of wire explodes. The team at Hackerbot Labs linked to a great theory of operations that does a great job explaining the physics has some awesome pictures.

During our research, we saw a few questions about the legality of altering currency. According to the U.S. Code, shrinking coins only illegal if it’s done fraudulently, like shrinking a penny down to the size of a dime to fool a pay phone or vending machine. Check out a video of the Hackerbot Labs setup putting as much energy as 100 heart defibrillators into a coin after the break.

Continue reading “High Voltage Hacks: Shrinking Coins” →

Installing Linux On Old PC’s Part 2

August 19, 2011 by 44 Comments

In part one I showed you that you could install a linux distro on a new computer and transplant it into a 386 computer in a short amount of time and with little effort. Now it is time to move on to bigger and beefier machines like 486’s, Pentiums and better.

I am going to break this quick tutorial down into sections based on installed RAM. While this won’t be a “how to” for all old PCs in the world I hope to at least send you in the right direction. I will mention a few distributions mainly for the super low ram machines. Its not my intent to start a distrubution war, and I have not personally sat down with every single one to make a educated assessment. However, you’re more than welcome to chime in.

Join us after the break and see what options you have for that old “boat anchor” sitting in the closet!

Continue reading “Installing Linux On Old PC’s Part 2” →

Adding Wireless Controls To Vintage Stereo Equipment

August 19, 2011 by 11 Comments

marantz_wifi_remote_control

[Jean] was shopping around for a vintage stereo receiver, and happened upon a broken, but repairable Marantz 4240. After getting things back to working order, he thought it would be great if he could use his iPhone to remotely control the unit (PDF Writeup, Schematics and Code).

He scrounged around for parts, and after locating a PIC and a handful of parts from old copiers and printers, he got down to business. He etched some custom boards to house electronic bits, then strapped motors to the volume and source selection knobs. He also rigged up the push button power switch on the receiver, using a small servo and a bit of string.

Now, he can control everything using his iPhone, which communicates with the stereo over WiFi. While the power, volume knob, and input selector can be triggered remotely, he still has the ability to tweak any of these items manually if desired.

We think that this is a great way to add modern amenities to vintage electronics, without ruining the aesthetics of the components. Don’t take our word for it though, check out the video demonstrations [Jean] but together after the jump.

Continue reading “Adding Wireless Controls To Vintage Stereo Equipment” →

Robotic Arm And Claw Sculpted Entirely From ShapeLock

August 19, 2011 by 24 Comments

shapelock_robotic_claw

[Alexey] wrote in to share a mechanical claw (Google Translation) he has been hard at work on for quite some time. While a lot of people will turn to some sort of 3D plastic printer such as the MakerBot if they need plastic parts built, [Alexey] didn’t have access to one. Instead, he carefully crafted the entire mechanism from polycaprolactone, or as it’s more commonly known, Shapelock.

Using a wide range of tools from hair dryers and knives to lighting fixtures, he manually sculpted the claw and its control arm out of plastic, piece by piece. We are particularly impressed by the gearing he was able to cut from the plastic, which can be finicky at times.

As you can see in the video below, The claw mimics each movement he makes with the control arm via a handful of Arduino-driven servos. Everything seems to work quite well, and despite the rough translation by Google, we think this is a great project. If you are looking to do something similar yourself, he has plenty of pictures on his site, which should give you a pretty good idea as to how things were put together.

Continue reading “Robotic Arm And Claw Sculpted Entirely From ShapeLock” →

The Hand-Mounted Haptic Feedback Sonar Obstacle Avoidance Asstance Device.. Or The Tacit

August 19, 2011 by 14 Comments

Here is a hack that takes the stick out of the blind mans hand. [Steve] has been working on the Tacit, a wrist mounted sonar device with haptic feedback, it’s like strapping a bat to your wrist to help you see. The Tacit uses two sonar ping sensors to measure the distance to the nearest obstacle, the relative distance to an object is then fed back to the user using two servos which apply pressure to the back of the wrist. The Tacit is sporting an Arduino pro mini to control the ping sensors and drive the servos, and runs off a 9 volt battery.

This is not an entirely new concept, haptic headbands have been around on the net for a while, but the Tacit allows the user to detect  obstacles on the ground waiting to trip you up. All in all a neat hack that may have a future in helping the blind. Check out the video after the break to see it in action.

Continue reading “The Hand-Mounted Haptic Feedback Sonar Obstacle Avoidance Asstance Device.. Or The Tacit” →