Day: June 2, 2020

How Science Adapted To The Aftermath Of Cold War Nuke Tests

June 2, 2020 by 33 Comments

Current global events have demonstrated that we do not live in the most stable of times. Still, most of us 90’s kids are probably glad that we did not have to endure the political shakiness of the Cold War era when people were living in constant fear of nuclear Armageddon. Nuclear weapons tests were common during this period as the United States and the Soviet Union invested heavily to increase the quality and quantity of their warheads in the race for nuclear supremacy.

Even though the political situation stabilized after the fall of the Soviet Union, the consequences of the vast amount of nuclear tests conducted back then are still noticeable today. Besides the devastating effects on human health and the environment, this period also leaves some implications for science which are not always negative.

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DIYing A VR Headset For Cheap

June 2, 2020 by 18 Comments

VR has been developing rapidly over the past decade, but headsets and associated equipment remain expensive. Without a killer app, the technology has yet to become ubiquitous in homes around the world. Wanting to experiment without a huge investment, [jamesvdberg] whipped up a low-cost headset for under $100 USD.

The build relies on Google-Cardboard-style optics, which are typically designed to work with a smartphone as the display. Instead, an 800×480 display intended for use with the Raspberry Pi is installed, hooked up over HDMI. An MPU6050 IMU is then installed to monitor the headset’s movements, hooked up to an Arduino Micro that passes this information to the attached PC. The rest of the build simply consists of cable management and power supply to all the hardware. It’s important to get this right, so that one doesn’t get tangled up by the umbilical when playing.

While it won’t outperform a commercial unit, the device nevertheless offers stereoscopic VR at a low cost. For a very cheap and accessible VR experience that’s compatible with the PC, it’s hard to beat. Others have done similar work too. Video after the break.

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Fusion For STM32: Development Board With Debugging And Programming Via WiFi

June 2, 2020 by 26 Comments

Clearly profiling itself as the Lamborghini or Ferrari of the STM32 development board world, MikroElektronika’s current (8th) revision of their Fusion development board was released last year with support for not only flashing but also debugging the attached STM32 MCU via the onboard WiFi module. The Serbian company’s pricing for the bare board without MCU modules or any other peripherals appears to be around 300 USD/Euro. Additional MCU boards cost between $28 – $60 each.

As the official product page explains, the board is combined with the CodeGrip software to manage the board either via USB-C (driver-free) – which also allows one to configure the WiFi option – and via WiFi. Peripheral boards are added via the 5 onboard MikroBUS expansion slots, either with existing boards, or custom MikroBUS boards. The power supply is also onboard, powered via USB, a barrel jack connector, or an external battery.

The use of WiFi to connect to the board would allow for it to be easily managed and debugged when it’s in a less convenient location than one’s desk, which would seem like a major boon.

Obviously it’s not a cheap board, and the MCU cards each cost about as much as a Nucleo or Discovery board from ST would cost, making it hard to justify purchasing it for anything but a professional environment. However, the tantalizing thing here is probably that so much of the design details are available, from the expansion bus to the pin-out and schematic of the MCU cards (STM32F767ZG version).

The MCU cards use the Hirose FX10A-168S-SV and FX10A-168P-SV(71) connectors, all readily available. This opens the possibility of developing compatible MCU cards. An MCU card template project can for example be found here.