Author: Bryan Cockfield

1761 Articles

8-Bit Computers Crunch Advanced Scientific Computations

December 1, 2024 by 37 Comments

Although largely relegated to retrocomputing enthusiasts and embedded systems or microcontrollers now, there was a time when there were no other computers available other than those with 8-bit processors. The late 70s and early 80s would have seen computers with processors like the Motorola 6800 or Intel 8080 as the top-of-the-line equipment and, while underpowered by modern standards, these machines can do quite a bit of useful work even today. Mathematician [Jean Michel Sellier] wanted to demonstrate this so he set up a Commodore 64 to study some concepts like simulating a quantum computer.

The computer programs he’s written to do this work are in BASIC, a common high-level language of the era designed for ease of use. To simulate the quantum computer he sets up a matrix-vector multiplication but simplifies it using conditional logic. Everything is shown using the LIST command so those with access to older hardware like this can follow along. From there this quantum computer even goes as far as demonstrating a quantum full adder.

There are a number of other videos on other topics available as well. For example, there’s an AmigaBasic program that simulates quantum wave packets and a QBasic program that helps visualize the statistical likelihood of finding an electron at various locations around a hydrogen nucleus. While not likely to displace any supercomputing platforms anytime soon, it’s a good look at how you don’t need a lot of computing power in all situations. And, if you need a refresher on some of these concepts, there’s an overview on how modern quantum computers work here.

Pushing 802.11ah To The Extreme With Drones

December 1, 2024 by 20 Comments

It might come as a surprise to some that IEEE, the Institute for Electrical and Electronics Engineers, does more than send out mailers asking people to renew their memberships. In fact, they also maintain various electrical standards across a wide range of disciplines, but perhaps the one most of us interact with the most is the 802.11 standard which outlines WiFi. There have been many revisions over the years to improve throughput but the 802.11ah standard actually looks at decreasing throughput in favor of extremely increased range. Just how far you can communicate using this standard seems to depend on how many drones you have.

802.11ah, otherwise known as Wi-Fi HaLow, operates in the sub-gigahertz range which is part of why it has the capability of operating over longer distances. But [Aaron] is extending that distance even further by adding a pair of T-Halow devices, one in client mode and the other in AP (access point) mode, on a drone. The signal then hops from one laptop to a drone, then out to another drone with a similar setup, and then finally down to a second laptop. In theory this “Dragon Bridge” could allow devices to communicate as far as the drone bridge will allow, and indeed [Aaron] has plans for future revisions to include more powerful hardware which will allow even greater distances to be reached.

While there were a few bugs to work out initially, eventually he was able to get almost two kilometers of distance across six devices and two drones. Something like this might be useful for a distributed network of IoT devices that are just outside the range of a normal access point. The Dragon Bridge borrowed its name from DragonOS, a Linux distribution built by [Aaron] with a wide assortment of software-defined radio tools available out of the box. He’s even put in on the Steam Deck to test out long-distance WiFi.

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Fully Submerge This Modernized PH Sensor

November 29, 2024 by 18 Comments

There’s a school of thought that says you shouldn’t mess around with a solution that’s already working, but that’s never seemed to stop anyone in this community. When [Skye] was looking at the current state of connected pH meters they realized there was incredible room for improvement.

Called the Nectar Monitor, this pH meter is a more modern take on what is currently offered in this space. Open source and based on the ESP32, it’s accessible to most people with a soldering iron, fits into a standard project box, and includes other modern features like USB and WiFi connectivity. It can even measure conductivity and temperature. But the main improvement here is that unlike other monitors that can only be submerged temporarily, this one is designed to be under water for long time periods thanks to a specially designed probe and electrical isolation.

This design makes it an appealing choice for people with aquariums, hydroponic farms, or any other situation where constant monitoring of pH is extremely important to maintaining a balanced system. We’ve seen some unique takes on hydroponics before especially, including this build that moves the plants instead of the nutrient solution and this fully automated indoor garden.

A Robot Meant For Humans

November 26, 2024 by 11 Comments

Although humanity was hoping for a more optimistic robotic future in the post-war era, with media reflecting that sentiment like The Jetsons or Lost in Space, we seem to have shifted our collective consciousness (for good reasons) to a more Black Mirror/Terminator future as real-world companies like Boston Dynamics are actually building these styles of machines instead of helpful Rosies. But this future isn’t guaranteed, and a PhD researcher is hoping to claim back a more hopeful outlook with a robot called Blossom which is specifically built to investigate how humans interact with robots.

For a platform this robot is not too complex, consisting of an accessible frame that can be laser-cut from wood with only a few moving parts controlled by servos. The robot is not too large, either, and can be set on a desk to be used as a telepresence robot. But Blossom’s creator [Michael] wanted this to help understand how humans interact with robots so the latest version is outfitted not only with a large language model with text-to-speech capabilities, but also with a compelling backstory, lore, and a voice derived from Animal Crossing that’s neither human nor recognizable synthetic robot, all in an effort to make the device more approachable.

To that end, [Michael] set the robot up at a Maker Faire to see what sorts of interactions Blossom would have with passers by, and while most were interested in the web-based control system for the robot a few others came by and had conversations with it. It’s certainly an interesting project and reminds us a bit of this other piece of research from MIT that looked at how humans and robots can work productively alongside one another.

Alternatives Don’t Need To Be Bashed

November 26, 2024 by 20 Comments

By default, bash is the most popular command language simply because it’s included in most *nix operating systems. Additionally, people don’t tend to spend a lot of time thinking about whatever their computer uses for scripting as they might for other pieces of software like a word processor or browser. If you are so inclined to take a closer look at this tool that’s often taken for granted, there are a number of alternatives to bash and [monzool] wanted to investigate them closely.

Unlike other similar documentation that [monzool] has come across where the writers didn’t actually use the scripting languages being investigated, [monzool] is planning to use each of these and accomplish specific objectives. This will allow them to get a feel for the languages and whether or not they are acceptable alternatives for bash. Moving through directories, passing commands back and forth, manipulating strings, searching for files, and manipulating the terminal display settings are all included in this task list. A few languages are tossed out before initial testing even begins for not meeting certain specific requirements. One example is not being particularly useful in [monzool]’s preferred embedded environments, but even so there are enough bash alternatives to test out ten separate languages.

Unfortunately, at the end of the day none of the ten selected would make a true replacement for bash, at least for [monzool]’s use case, but there were a few standouts nonetheless. Nutshell was interesting for being a more modern, advanced system and [monzool] found Janet to be a fun and interesting project but had limitations with cross-compiling. All in all though this seemed to be an enjoyable experience that we’d recommend if you actually want to get into the weeds on what scripting languages are actually capable of. Another interesting one we featured a while back attempts to perform as a shell and a programming language simultaneously.

Electric Motors Run Continuously At Near-Peak Power

November 26, 2024 by 35 Comments

For a lot of electrical and mechanical machines, there are nominal and peak ratings for energy output or input. If you’re in marketing or advertising, you’ll typically look at the peak rating and move on with your day. But engineers need to know that most things can only operate long term at a fraction of this peak rating, whether it’s a power supply in a computer, a controller on an ebike, or the converter on a wind turbine. But this electric motor system has a unique cooling setup allowing it to function at nearly full peak rating for an unlimited amount of time.

The motor, called the Super Continuous Torque motor built by German automotive manufacturer Mahle is capable of 92% of its peak output power thanks to a unique oil cooling system which is able to remove heat and a rapid rate. Heat is the major limiter for machines like this; typically when operating at a peak rating a motor would need to reduce power output to cool down so that major components don’t start melting or otherwise failing. Given that the largest of these motors have output power ratings of around 700 horsepower, that’s quite an impressive benchmark.

The motor is meant for use in passenger vehicles but also tractor-trailer style trucks, where a motor able to operate at its peak rating would mean a smaller size motor or less weight or both, making them easier to fit into the space available as well as being more economically viable. Mahle is reporting that these motors are ready for production so we should be seeing them help ease the transportation industry into electrification. If you’re more concerned about range than output power, though, there’s a solution there as well so you don’t have to be stuck behind the times with fossil fuels forever.

Thanks to [john] for the tip!

A Handheld Gaming PC With Steam Deck Vibes

November 17, 2024 by 9 Comments

Since its inception, the Steam Deck has been a bit of a game changer in the PC gaming world. The goal of the handheld console was to make PC gaming as easy and straightforward as a walled-garden proprietary console like a Switch or Playstation but still allow for the more open gaming experience of a PC. At its core, though, it’s essentially a standard PC with the parts reorganized into handheld form, and there’s no reason any other small-form-factor PC can’t be made into a similar system. [CNCDan] has the skills and tools needed to do this and shows us how it’s done.

The build is based around a NUC, a small form factor computer that typically uses the same low-power mobile processors and graphics cards found in laptops but without the built-in battery or screen. This one has an AMD Ryzen 7 processor with Radeon graphics, making it reasonably high-performing for its size. After measuring out the dimensions of the small computer and preparing for other components like the battery, joysticks, buttons, and even a trackpad, it was time to create the case. Instead of turning to a 3D printer, this one is instead milled on a CNC machine. Something tells us that [CNCDan] prefers subtractive manufacturing in general.

With all the parts assembled in the case, the build turns into a faithful Steam Deck replica with a few bonuses, like an exposed Ethernet port and the knowledge that everything can easily be fixed since it was built from the ground up in the first place. The other great thing about builds like these is they don’t need an obscure NUC for the hardware; you can always grab your old Framework mainboard for handheld gaming instead. Reminded us of the NucDeck.

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