Day: February 18, 2025

Belfry OpenSCAD Library (BOSL2) Brings Useful Parts And Tools Aplenty

February 18, 2025 by 16 Comments

OpenSCAD has a lot of fans around these parts — if you’re unaware, it’s essentially a code-based way of designing 3D models. Instead of drawing them up in a CAD program, one writes a script that defines the required geometry. All that is made a little easier with the Belfry OpenSCAD Library (BOSL2).

Designing a part like this is a cinch with BOSL2.

BOSL2 has an extensive library of base shapes, advanced functions for manipulating models, and some really nifty tools for creating attachment points on parts and aligning components with one another. If that sounds handy for designing useful objects, you’re in for even more of a treat when you see their functions for gears, hinges, screws, and more.

There’s even one that covers bottle necks and caps. (Those are all standardized by the way, so it’s never been easier to interface to existing bottles or caps in a project.)

OpenSCAD really is very versatile software. It powers useful tools like this screw, washer, and nut generator as well as having more unusual applications like a procedural terrain generator. It’s free, so if you’ve never looked into it, check it out!

Vacuum Forming With 3D Printed Moulds And Sheets

February 18, 2025 by 12 Comments

Vacuum forming is perhaps one of the less popular tools in the modern maker arsenal, something which surprises us a bit because it offers many possibilities. We’ve created our own vacuum forms on 3D printed moulds for ages, so it’s interesting to see [Pisces Printing] following the same path. But what you might not realize at first is that the vacuum forming sheets themselves are also 3D printed.

The full video is below the break, and in it he details making a mould from PETG, and in particular designing it for easy release. The part he’s making is a belt guard for a table top lathe, and the PETG sheet he’s forming it from is also 3D printed. He makes the point that it’s by no means perfect, for example he shows us a bit of layer separation, but it seems promising enough for further experimentation.  His vacuum forming setup seems particularly small, which looks as though it makes the job of making a sheet somewhat simpler.

The cost of a vacuum forming sheet of whichever polymer is hardly high, so we can’t see this technique making sense for everyday use. But as we’ve seen in previous experiments, the printed sheets so make it easy to add color and texture to the final product, which obviously adds some value to the technique.

Continue reading “Vacuum Forming With 3D Printed Moulds And Sheets” →

A Unique Linear Position Sensor Using Magnetostriction

February 18, 2025 by 16 Comments

To the extent that you’re familiar with magnetostriction, you probably know that it’s what makes big transformers hum, or that it’s what tips you off if you happen to walk out of a store without paying for something. But magnetostriction has other uses, too, such as in this clever linear position sensor.

Magnetostriction is just the tendency for magnetic materials to change size or shape slightly while undergoing magnetization, thanks to the tiny magnetic domains shifting within the material while they’re aligning. [Florian B.]’s sensor uses a side effect of magnetostriction known as the Wiedenmann effect, which causes a wire to experience a twisting force if a current pulse is applied to it in a magnetic field. When the current pulse is turned off, a mechanical wave travels along the wire to a coil, creating a signal. The difference in time between sending the pulse and receiving the reflection can be used to calculate the position of the magnet along the wire.

To turn that principle into a practical linear sensor, [Florian B.] used nickel wire stretched tightly down the middle of a PVC tube. At one end is a coil of copper magnet wire, while the other end has a damper to prevent reflections. Around the tube is a ring-shaped cursor magnet, which can move up and down the tube. An exciter circuit applies the current pulse to the wire, and an oscilloscope is used to receive the signal from the wire.

This project still appears to be in the prototype phase, as evidenced by the Fischertechnik test rig. [Florian] has been working on the exciter circuit most recently, but he’s done quite a bit of work on optimizing the cursor magnet and the coil configuration, as well as designs for the signal amplifier. It’s a pretty neat project, and we’re looking forward to updates.

If you need a deeper dive into magnetostriction, [Ben Krasnow] points the way.

A black and white image of a dark framed e-reader with a keyboard below its e-ink screen. It is on a piece of cloth.

Auto-Download Your Kindle Books Before February 26th Deadline

February 18, 2025 by 85 Comments

With the news that Amazon will no longer be allowing users to download their Kindle books after February 26th, many are scrambling to download their books before it’s too late. The most up-to-date project for automating this process appears to be Amazon Kindle Bulk Downloader.

As the company that famously removed 1984 from thousands of devices without users permission, this is a move that shouldn’t be surprising, but is still disappointing, especially for those of us that were somewhat early adopters of ebooks with Kindles that don’t have a WiFi connection. (Yes, you can tell us about how you bought a Sony reader before the Kindle even came out in the comments.)

The Typescript-coded tool runs inside bun which can be installed in any of the big three OSes and even has a handy Docker image if that’s more your speed. Whether you use this tool or not, if you have any Kindle books we’d implore you to download them now.

Once you’ve downloaded those books, how about cracking the DRM either with LEGO or with software like Calibre. You could load it on a completely Open Source Reader then.

Close up of a custom optical HDMI cable on a desk

Let There Be Light: The Engineering Of Optical HDMI

February 18, 2025 by 15 Comments

In a recent video, [Shahriar] from The Signal Path has unveiled the intricate design and architecture of optical HDMI cables, offering a cost-effective solution to extend HDMI 2.0 connections beyond the limitations of traditional copper links. This exploration is particularly captivating for those passionate about innovative hardware hacks and signal transmission technologies.

[Shahriar] begins by dissecting the fundamentals of HDMI high-speed data transmission, focusing on the Transition Minimized Differential Signaling (TMDS) standard. He then transitions to the challenges of converting from twisted-pair copper to optical lanes, emphasizing the pivotal roles of Vertical-Cavity Surface-Emitting Lasers (VCSELs) and PIN photodiodes. These components are essential for transforming electrical signals into optical ones and vice versa, enabling data transmission over greater distances without significant signal degradation.

A standout aspect of this teardown is the detailed examination of the optical modules, highlighting the use of free-space optics and optical confinement techniques with lasers and detectors. [Shahriar] captures the eye diagram of the received high-speed lane and confirms the VCSELs’ optical wavelength at 850 nm. Additionally, he provides a microscopic inspection of the TX and RX chips, revealing the intricate VCSEL and photodetector arrays. His thorough analysis offers invaluable insights into the electronic architecture of optical HDMI cables, shedding light on the complexities of signal integrity and the innovative solutions employed to overcome them.

For enthusiasts eager to take a deeper look into the nuances of optical HDMI technology, [Shahriar]’s comprehensive teardown serves as an excellent resource. It not only gives an insight in the components and design choices involved, but also inspires further exploration into enhancing data transmission methods.

Continue reading “Let There Be Light: The Engineering Of Optical HDMI” →

Hackaday Europe 2025: Speakers, Lightning Talks, And More!

February 18, 2025 by 1 Comment

If you’ve been waiting for news from our upcoming Hackaday Europe event in March, wait no longer. We’re excited to announce the first slice of our wonderful speakers lineup! Get your tickets now,

Hackaday Europe is going down again in Berlin this year on March 15th and 16th at MotionLab. It’s Hackaday, but in real life, and it’s too much fun.  The badge is off-the-scale cool, powered by the incredible creativity of our community who entered the Supercon SAO contest last fall, and we’re absolutely stoked to be tossing the four winning entries into your schwag bag in Europe.

If you already know you’ll be attending and would like to give a seven-minute Lightning Talk on Sunday, we’re also opening up the call for talks there. Tell us now what you’d like to talk about so we can all hear it on Sunday morning.

We’re looking forward to the talks and to seeing you all there! We’re getting the last few speakers ironed out, have a keynote talk to announce, and, of course, will open up workshop signups. So stay tuned! Continue reading “Hackaday Europe 2025: Speakers, Lightning Talks, And More!” →

Series Hybrid Semi-Trucks: It Works For Locomotives So Why Not?

February 18, 2025 by 67 Comments
The current Edison Motors semi-truck prototype. (Credit: Edison Motors)
The current Edison Motors semi-truck prototype. (Credit: Edison Motors)

Canadian start-up Edison Motors may not seem like much at first glance — consisting of fewer than two dozen people in a large tent — but their idea of bringing series hybrid technology to semi-trucks may just have wheels. The concept and Edison Motors’ progress is explained in a recent video by The Drive on Youtube, starting off with the point that diesel-electric technology is an obvious fit for large trucks like this. After all, it works for trains.

In a series hybrid, there are two motors: a diesel generator and an electric motor (diesel-electric). This was first used in ships in the 1900s and would see increasing use in railway locomotives starting in the early 20th century. In the case of Edison Motors’ current prototype design there is a 9.0 liter Scania diesel engine which is used solely as a generator at a fixed RPM. This is a smaller engine than the ~15 liter engine in a conventional configuration and also doesn’t need a gearbox.

Compared to a battery-electric semi-truck, like the Tesla Semi, it weighs far less. And unlike a hydrogen-fuel cell semi-truck it actually exists and doesn’t require new technologies to be invented. Instead a relatively small battery is kept charged by the diesel generator and power fed back into the battery from regenerative braking. This increases efficiency in many ways, especially in start-stop traffic, while not suffering a weight penalty from a heavy battery pack and being able to use existing service stations, and jerry cans of diesel.

In addition to full semi-trucks Edison Motors also works on conversion kits for existing semi-trucks, pick-up trucks and more. Considering how much of the North American rolling stock  on its rail systems is diesel-electric, it’s more amazing that it would have taken so long for the same shift to series hybrid on its road. Even locomotives occasionally used direct-drive diesel, but the benefits of diesel-electric hybrids quickly made that approach obsolete.

Continue reading “Series Hybrid Semi-Trucks: It Works For Locomotives So Why Not?” →