A DIY Nine Channel Digital Scope

March 22, 2018 by Christian Trapp 25 Comments

Have you ever found yourself in the need of a nine channel scope, when all you had was an FPGA evaluation board? Do not despair, [Miguel Angel] has you covered. While trying to make sense of the inner workings of a RAM controller core, he realized that he needed to capture a lot of signals in parallel and whipped up this 9-channel digital oscilloscope.

The scope is remote-controlled via a JavaScript application, and over Ethernet. Graphical output is provided as a VGA signal at full HD, so it is easy to see what is going on. Downloading sampled data to the controlling computer for analysis is in the works. [Miguel] runs his implementation on an Arty A7 development board which is currently available for around a hundred dollars, but the design is transferable to other platforms. The code and some documentation is available on GitHub and there is a demo video after the break.

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Want A Leak-Proof Camper? Better Fire Up The 3D Printer Now.

March 22, 2018 by James Hobson 32 Comments

Ah, the great outdoors. Rejuvenating air rife with mosquitoes and other nasties, and spending some time hanging out in the woods sleeping in a 3D printed camper. Wait– what was that last one again?

Yep, it’s exactly what it sounds like. A Canadian team headed by [Randy Janes] of Wave of the Future 3D, printed a camper at [Create Cafe] in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, using high-flow nozzles on one of the largest 3D printers in North America. These layers are 10.3mm thick!!

This trailer is one single printed piece, taking 230 hours — nine and a half days — of straight printing with only a few hangups. Weighing 600lbs and at 13 feet long by six feet wide — approximately 507 cubic feet, this beats the previous record holder for largest single piece indoor print in size by three times over.

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Converting Power Supplies For Antique Computers

March 22, 2018 by Bryan Cockfield 16 Comments

Just because something is “never used” doesn’t mean it’s good. [Inkoo Vintage Computing] learned that lesson while trying to repair an Amiga 500 and finding parts online that were claimed to be “new” in that they were old stock that had never been used. The problem was that in the last 30 years the capacitors had dried out, rendering these parts essentially worthless. The solution, though, was to adapt a modern PSU for use on the old equipment.

The first hurdle to getting this machine running again was finding the connector for the power supply. The parts seemed to have vanished, with some people making their own from scratch. But after considering the problem for a minute longer they realized that another Commodore machine used the same parts, and were able to source a proper cable.

Many more parts had to be sourced to get the power supply operational, but these were not as hard to come across. After some dedicated work with the soldering iron, the power supply was put to use running the old Amiga. Asture readers will know that [Inkoo Vintage Computing] aren’t strangers to the Amiga. They recently were featured with a nondestructive memory module hack that suffered from the same parts sourcing issues that this modification had, but also came out wonderfully in the end.

Arduino Clock Jots Down The Time, In UV

March 22, 2018 by Tom Nardi 7 Comments

We’re big fans of the impractical around here at Hackaday. Sure there’s a certain appeal to coming up with the most efficient method to accomplish your goal, the method that does exactly what it needs to do without any superfluous elements. But it’s just not as much fun. If at least one person doesn’t ask “But why?”, then you probably left something on the table, design wise.

So when we saw this delightfully complex clock designed by [Tucker Shannon], we instantly fell in love. Powered by an Arduino, the clock uses an articulated arm with a UV LED to write out the current time on a piece of glow-in-the-dark material. The time doesn’t stay up for long depending on the lighting in the room, but at least it only takes a second or two to write out once you press the button.

Things are pretty straightforward inside the 3D printed case. There’s an Arduino coupled with an RTC module to keep the time, which is connected to the two standard hobby servos mounted in the front panel. A UV LED and simple push button round out the rest of the Bill of Materials. The source code is provided, so you won’t have to figure out the kinematics involved in getting the two servos to play nicely together if you want to try this one at home.

We’ve seen many clocks powered by Arduinos over the years, occasionally they even have hands. But few can boast their own robotic arm.

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Carrots In Space

March 22, 2018 by Christian Trapp 18 Comments

For this year’s Hackaday Prize, [will.stevens] is growing his own produce and now looks for a way to shield his endeavors from the perils of the British winter. To achieve this, he decided to grow vegetables in sealed containers. Inspired by prior art and backed up by research, his approach is a wild mix of applied laziness on one hand and reckless over-engineering on the other. The sealed containers in this project are PET bottles, chosen for their availability and the produce are carrots, mainly because they can be harvested through the bottle’s mouth. Carrots also feature a high energy density and can provide fibers for plant-based construction materials so [will] deems them ideal space colonist food.

The project is currently in its fourth attempt and somewhere along the road from carrot seeds, dirt and some water in a soda bottle to the current state, the setup sprouted artificial lighting and a CO2 sensor. Fully aware that sealed greenhouses are a proven concept, [will.stevens] provides links to literature one should read before attempting something like this, alongside regular updates on his progress.

With a sensor and LEDs already in place, it is just a matter of time until a raspi will be added. Or we might see the demise of the soil in favor of a hydroponic setup.

Mechanisms: Cable Ties

March 22, 2018 by Dan Maloney 63 Comments

Zip ties, Ty-Raps, cable ties; call them what you will, but it’s hard to imagine doing without these ubiquitous and useful devices. Along with duct tape and hot glue, they’re part of the triumvirate of fasteners used to solve nasty problems quickly and cheaply. They’re next up on the list of mechanisms we find fascinating, and as it turns out, there’s more to these devices than meets the eye.

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Join Hackaday At The Midwest RepRap Festival This Weekend

March 22, 2018 by Brian Benchoff 7 Comments

What time is it? It’s Midwest RepRap Festival time, and it’s happening this weekend in beautiful Goshen, Indiana. It’s free, it’s open to everyone, and it’s the greatest 3D printer convention on Earth.

What’s so great about MRRF? This is where the latest products in the 3D printing space are launched. A few years ago, E3D announced their dual extrusion head at MRRF. This is where the world first got a look at the Bondtech extruder. This is where E3D announced their Titan extruder, and this is where the world got its first look at the Lulzbot Taz 6. If you want to check out the latest 3D printing gear, this is where you go.

How about showcasing what 3D printing can do? Well, how about 3D printed molds for resin casting? There will be 3D printed droids from Star Wars. Want to learn about bioprinting? Sure thing. How about non-Nerf guns? How many filament changes are too many? This is not the limit.

Of course, it wouldn’t be a RepRap festival without the latest new designs for 3D printers. [Nicholas Seward] usually makes it out to MRRF, and he’ll probably be bringing a few of his weird innovations. There are strange RepRaps built for STEM-driven curriculum. Last year, we saw what is probably the greatest advancement in 3D printing in years. The infinite build volume printer is exactly that — it can print an infinitely long beam in one axis. How about a color mixing, CMYKW filament-based printer?

The Midwest RepRap Festival is the greatest 3D printer convention on the planet, and I’d say one of the top two or three cons I go to every year. It’s a fantastic time that you can’t miss. Join us!