RCA DSB772WE Teardown Shows That This Cheap Streaming Box Might Have Potential

December 3, 2011 by Mike Nathan 75 Comments

RCA-DSB772WE

[David Anders] wrote in to share some details of a cheap little gadget he picked up at his local Wal-Mart. He scored the RCA DSB772WE media streaming box for $48, and so far it looks like it could be a promising addition to his living room.

He started a project page for the box, detailing some of his findings thus far. The device is MIPS based and runs the Linux kernel version 2.6.28.9 right out of the box. The networking components are based on the Broadcom BCM7615 chipset, though it looks to [David] that the Ethernet jack was removed at some point during production.

So far, he’s managed to get a serial console running on the device, along with an additional USB host connection. That’s about all the poking around he has done thus far, but seeing as the box can output a 1080p signal over HDMI, it could be a cheap substitute for an Apple TV or similar device.

If you happen to have one of these at home, or are planning on buying one, be sure to check out his project page and contribute any information you might be able to glean from it. We’re sure [David] would appreciate it, and we certainly look forward to seeing what else comes out of his hacking adventures.

Weekly Roundup 12/3/11

December 3, 2011 by Jack Buffington No comments

In case you missed them the first time around, here are our most popular posts from the past week.

In first place was a repeat from last week of how you can make a privacy screen from an old LCD display. We want to serve up fresh stuff in this post though so we’ll add one to our top five this week.

Coming in at second place is a post about [Alex’s] real-life Star Trek door that opens and closes pneumatically. Live long and Prosper [Alex]!

Following up in third place is a post about a proposal to build 100 government-run hackerspaces in China. Surely there will be bureaucracy and red tape involved involved with such a thing but maybe the U.S. could take a note about this and help us stay competitive with the rest of the world.

Next we have a post about a project where [Brainiac27] built a 1300 lumen bike light. For those of you who don’t follow the latest in lighting trends, that is like having a 100 Watt spot light mounted to the front of your bike!

Following that, take a look at this post about [FXI Technologies]’ new dongle that lets you run android on any computer or HDMI television. This thing is the size of a thumb drive and yet packs some pretty serious fire power.

Finally, if you are looking for an interesting way to work with plastic, take a look at this post where you are shown how to make prosthetic parts using old soda (or pop if you are one of THOSE people :) ) bottles.

A Solar Clock That Isn’t A Sundial

December 2, 2011 by Brian Benchoff 15 Comments

Hack a Day’s very own [Jack Buffington] is throwing his hat into the ring for the Buildlounge laser cutter giveaway with his solar clock that isn’t a sundial.

The theory behind [Jack]’s clock is pretty simple. The light from the sun will be captured by a camera obscura/pinhole camera. The sun’s rays shine on dozens of optical fibers that lead indoors and up to the clock. These glass fibers go to pinholes in the face of the clock which light up, showing the time.

[Jack] already cut out the face of the clock on his (awesome) home-made CNC router. He hasn’t gotten around to cutting out the mechanics of the clock face so the clock can be adjusted throughout the year. We’re okay with that, because we’re really not ready to see [Jack] fiddle with his gnomon. At least before [Jack] gets his hand on the Buildlounge laser.

The next major hurdle of the build is the solar collector that collects light into different optical fibers. That’s going to involve a lot of math using the equatorial coordinate system. Help is available, though.

Check out [Jack] cutting the clock face on his router after the break.

Continue reading “A Solar Clock That Isn’t A Sundial” →

Micromouse Wins 2011 Maze Race In Under 4 Seconds

December 2, 2011 by Mike Szczys 21 Comments

It’s off to the races once again with the Micomouse maze solving contest at the 2011 RoboGames. This is a picture of the winner, a bot called Min7 (main page) which was built by [Ng Beng Kiat]. Using four phototransistors and a flash sensor it managed to first map the contest maze, then speed run it in under four seconds. See both runs in videos after the break. He’s certainly got a leg up on the bots we saw last year. Min7 beats them both in time, and overall control during the speed run.

[Ng] mentions that this year is the first time he’s built a micromouse with four wheels instead of two. There’s a gyro on board which aids navigation by feeding the orientation data to the STM32 chip which controls the device. We took a moment to page through his past designs. It’s remarkable how they’ve evolved through the years. Continue reading “Micromouse Wins 2011 Maze Race In Under 4 Seconds” →

Eight-dollar Airplane For Really Bad Pilots

December 2, 2011 by Mike Szczys 25 Comments

Have a habit of hitting the bottle before getting into the cockpit? Find that your mind wanders mid-flight? Lack the hand-eye coordination to keep that RC creation of yours in the air? Worry not, you can build this flyer and crash it with impunity.

[HammyDude] built the RC aircraft out of laminated foam board. He’s had it for years and it’s survived multiple crashes. You can see the one real injury suffered, a snapped fuselage at the leading edge of the wings. He repaired it with popsicle sticks and it’s been going strong ever since.

In addition to the wooden reinforcements he’s covered the fuselage with fibrous packing tape (you know, the stuff with the strings running in it). There’s also a carbon fiber tube at the leading edge of each wing. It’s light, strong, and robust (with the exception of the propeller of which he’s broken about 10).

Check out the video after the break for an explanation of the aircraft, list of materials, and HD images of the patterns you need to make them yourself. The only thing you won’t see is flight footage.

Continue reading “Eight-dollar Airplane For Really Bad Pilots” →

Printable Solar Cells That Can Be Folded Up When Not In Use

December 2, 2011 by Mike Szczys 59 Comments

Here’s a photovoltaic cell that can be printed onto paper. The manufacturing technique is almost as simple as using an inkjet printer. The secret is in the ink itself. It takes five layers deposited on the paper in a vacuum chamber. But that’s a heck of a lot easier than current solar cell fabrication practices. In fact, is sounds like the printing process is very similar to how potato chip bags are made. This is significant, because it could mean a fast track to mass production for the technology.

It isn’t just the easy printing process that excites us. Check out the video after the break where a test cell is placed on top of a light source while being monitored by a multimeter. It’s been folded like a fan and you can see a researcher sinch up the cell into a small form for storage. It’s a little counter-intuitive; for instance, you wouldn’t want to make a window shade out of it because it would have to be down during the day to get power. Be we think there’s got to be some great use for these foldable properties. Continue reading “Printable Solar Cells That Can Be Folded Up When Not In Use” →

Cheap DIY Tilt Switches Are Great In A Pinch

December 2, 2011 by Mike Nathan 46 Comments

diy-cheap-tilt-switch

[fjordcarver] was looking for some mercury-free tilt switches that wouldn’t break the bank and that were easy to build. He also wanted something cheap, so instead of buying some tilt switches he devised his own that fit all of the criteria he set out. Now, these switches are not your typical fare, and they’re not small either. They are however, cheap, effective, and easy to manipulate/repair.

He picked up a package of metallic craft beads at the store and emptied out two bottles, saving one set of beads that happened to be conductive, i.e. not coated with paint or coloring. The beads were split between two jars, which were then sealed with corks that had a pair of straightened paperclips inserted through them. The bottles were oriented facing away from one another, then attached together with a piece of house wire. One of the leads from each jar was attached to this common wire, while the others were extended with hook up wire for use in the circuit he was building. Pictures definitely explain the mechanism far better than words can, so be sure to check out his tutorial to get a better look at them.

While they might look a bit rough, he says they work great, so give them a try if you have the need.