Projector And NES Mini Hide Out Inside The Real Thing

November 5, 2019 by Tom Nardi 5 Comments

Taking a page out of the Xzibit Engineering Handbook, [Geeksmithing] recently decided that the gutted carcass of an original Nintendo Entertainment System would make a perfect home for…a smaller NES. Well, that and two wireless controllers. Plus a projector. Oh, and batteries so it can be used on the go. Because really, at that point, why not?

The video after the break starts with a cleverly edited version of a legitimate NES commercial from the gaming glory days of the 1980s, and segues into an rundown of all the modern hardware [Geeksmithing] crammed into the case of this legendary console. It helps that the official NES Classic used for the project is so much smaller than its more than thirty year old predecessor, leaving plenty of room inside to get creative. We particularly like the dual wireless controllers which are conveniently hiding inside the original cartridge slot.

Frankly, that alone would have made this project worthwhile in our book, but [Geeksmithing] didn’t stop there. He also added in a pico projector that’s normally covered up by the black facia on the rear of the console, complete with a “kickstand” to tip the system up to the appropriate angle. Continuing with the theme of enabling ad-hoc NES play sessions, he also packed in enough batteries to keep the system running for a respectable amount of time. There’s even put an inductive charging coil in the bottom of the system so he can top off the batteries just by dropping the system on a modified SNES mousepad.

Last time [Geeksmithing] checked in, he was embedding a Raspberry Pi into a Super Mario Thwomp that was made from real concrete. We can’t wait to see what he comes up with next.

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Razer Laptop Gets A Sneaky Fan Mod

November 5, 2019 by Lewin Day 10 Comments

Some people love fan noise, using it to help get to sleep or just create some ambience in a room. Others hate it, like [Dimitris], and will take severe measures to eliminate it where possible. When his Razer Blade laptop was incessantly whirring away, it was time to get to work.

The Razer laptop uses a controller that outputs a variable duty cycle signal to control fan speed. Unfortunately, the fans never fully switch off, even when the laptop is cold, leading to frustrating excessive noise. [Dimitris] implemented an ATtiny85 to intercept this signal, giving him full control over the fans. Two modes are implemented, one which keeps the fans off when the duty cycle is at its minimum, and the other that attempts to keep the fans at a minimum speed wherever possible.

While modifying the critical cooling system of a high-performance laptop is a risky business, it’s a decent price to pay for some peace and quiet. We’ve seen quite the opposite to this mod, too – like this Xbox 360 outfitted with additional cooling.

Traffic Updates On The Seven Seas: Open Source Chart Plotter Using A Raspberry Pi

November 4, 2019 by Danie Conradie 7 Comments

As the Raspberry Pi in its various forms continues to flow into the wild by the thousands, it’s interesting to see its user base expand outside beyond the hacker communities. One group of people who’ve also started taking a liking to it is sailing enthusiasts. [James Conger] is one such sailor, and he built his own AIS enabled chart plotter for a fraction of the price of comparable commercial units.

AIS transponders in the Mediterranean. VesselFinder

Automatic Identification System (AIS) is a GPS tracking system that uses transponders to transmit a ship’s position data to other ships or receiver stations in an area. This is used for collision avoidance and by authorities (and hobbyists) to keep an eye on shipping traffic, and allow for stricken vessels to be found easily. [James]’ DIY chart plotter overlays the received AIS data over marine charts on a nice big display. A Raspberry Pi 3B+, AIS Receiver Hat, USB GPS dongle and a makes up the core of the system. The entire setup cost about $350. The Pi runs OpenCPN, an open source chart plotter and navigation software package that [John] says is rivals most commercial software. As most Pi users will know the SD card is often a weak link, so it’s probably worth having a backup SD card with all the software already installed just in case it fails during a voyage.

We’ve seen AIS receiver stations built using the RTL-SDR, as well as a number of projects around the AIS equivalent in aviation, ADS-B. Check out [John]’s video after the break. Continue reading “Traffic Updates On The Seven Seas: Open Source Chart Plotter Using A Raspberry Pi” →

Investigating Retroreflectors With One Heck Of A Microscope

November 4, 2019 by Lewin Day 16 Comments

Retroreflectors are interesting materials, so known for their nature of reflecting light back to its source. Examples include street signs, bicycle reflectors, and cat’s eyes, which so hauntingly pierce the night. They’re also used in the Tilt Five tabletop AR system, for holographic gaming. [Adam McCombs] got his hands on a Tilt Five gameboard, and threw it under the microscope to see how it works.

Using the ion beam, a trench was dug around the side of one of the spheres, revealing the interface between the adhesive and the sphere itself.

[Adam] isn’t mucking around, fielding a focused ion beam microscope for the investigation. This scans a beam of galium metal ions across a sample for imaging. With the added kinetic energy of an ion beam versus a more typical electron beam, the sample under the microscope can be ablated as well as imaged. This allows [Adam] to very finally chip away at the surface of the retroreflector to see how it’s made.

The analysis reveals that the retroreflecting spheres are glass, coated in metal. They’re stuck to a surface with an adhesive, which coats the bottom of the spheres, and acts as an etch mask. The metal coating is then removed from the sphere’s surface sticking out above the adhesive layer. This allows light to enter through the transparent part of the sphere, and then bounce off the metal coating back to the source, creating a sheet covered in retroreflectors.

[Adam] does a great job of describing both the microscopy and production techniques involved, before relating it to the fundamentals of the Tilt Five AR technology. It’s not the first time we’ve heard from [Adam] on the topic, and we’re sure it won’t be the last!

Downdraft Device Dismisses Dust

November 4, 2019 by Kristina Panos 9 Comments

Woodworking is messy business, especially the sanding part. But even if you don’t care what happens to your shop floor, you don’t want dead tree particulate matter in your lungs. Wearing a mask or even a respirator is a good start, but a dust collection system is better. Someday, [XYZ Create] might have a shop-wide sawdust-slurper installed. In the meantime, he made a downdraft table out of scrap plywood and a plastic storage box.

The only thing he didn’t already have on hand was a port that matched his shop vacuum. We like his workaround to avoid drilling a huge hole in plastic that would certainly crack — use a hose clamp to get the OD of the port, heat up the clamp on a hot plate, and let it melt a hole into the box. Hopefully, he at least opened a window. [XYZ Create] glued four pieces of scrap plywood together for the top, and drilled all 117 holes by hand. Who needs pegboard?

Not fancy or big enough for your needs? Here’s one with a built-in filtration system.

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A USB-C Bench Power Supply

November 4, 2019 by Tom Nardi 8 Comments

A bench power supply is one of those things that every hacker needs, and as the name implies, it’s intended to occupy a place of honor on your workbench. But with the addition of USB-C support to his DPH5005 bench supply, [Dennis Schneider] is ready to take his on the road should the need ever arise.

The build started with one of the common DPH5005 bench power supply kits, which [Dennis] says he was fairly happy with aside from a few issues which he details in the post on his blog. Even if you aren’t looking to modify your own kit with the latest and greatest in the world of Universal Serial Bus technology, it’s interesting to read his thoughts on the power supply kit if you’ve been considering picking one up yourself.

Under normal circumstances you are supposed to give the DPH5005 DC power via the terminals on the back panel of the supply, which in turn is regulated and adjusted via the front panel controls. To add support for USB-C, all [Dennis] had to do was install a USB-PD trigger module configured to negotiate 20 VDC in the back of the case and connect it to the DC input. To hold it in place while isolating it from the metal case, he used a piece of scrap PCB carefully cut and wrapped in Kapton tape.

This actually isn’t the first portable bench power supply we’ve seen. Last year we saw one that got its input power from Makita portable tool batteries, but we think all things considered, the USB-C option is probably a bit more convenient.

Axiom, A 100+kW Motor Controller For Making Big Motors Move

November 4, 2019 by Gerrit Coetzee 47 Comments

We’ve seen a lot of motor driver boards for robots and the odd electric skateboard. What we haven’t see a lot of is one big enough to drop into an electric vehicle.

The Axiom motor controller was a winner of the bootstrap contest and is a Finalist in the 2019 Hackaday Prize. The driver aims to deliver 300A continuous at 400V all day long. Which is a very impressive amount of power from a board that appears to be quite compact.

The brains of the device is an ice40 FPGA from Lattice running software based on the VESC Project. Its open source roots will certainly allow for some interesting hacks and an increasingly stable platform over time. Not to mention the existing software tools will aid in the sometimes cumbersome motor-driver tuning process.

The board designs are available, but we agree with the team that the complexity of assembly is likely going to be high (along with the price). The amount of research and skill going into this complicated kit is a bit mind-boggling, but we hope it will really enable some cool hacks, from cars, to ATVs, and maybe even an electric flyer.