Depraz Mouse Clone Has A USB Tail

March 5, 2022 by Kristina Panos 4 Comments

In 1980, Logitech started selling a round, three-button input device known the Depraz mouse or Swiss mouse, which was made by — you guessed it — a Swiss company called Depraz. At the time, Logitech was primarily a software development outfit, but the success they saw in selling the Depraz mouse led them to leave logic and looping behind in order to pursue peripherals permanently.

[John Floren] recently decided to make a modern clone called the Bellwether mouse. You may remember that [John] previously restored a vintage Depraz to working condition. The only problem is that ‘working condition’ for a 40-year-old mouse is underwhelming on a modern computer.

The Bellwether mouse sports a high-end Pixart PMW3389 sensor and uses a PIC16F1454 for the controller. The most complicated part was dealing with voltage levels, because the PIC wants 5 V and the sensor only 2 V. The firmware is a mix of Microchip’s USB HID demo code and [Daniel Kao]’s Arduino code for the PWM3389 sensor.

Unlike the original Depraz’s male DE-9 connector, this updated version connects via USB. We like that [John] learned FreeCAD in order to make the body, and especially that he glued fishing weights to the underside for more heft. Check it out in action after the break. We were most curious about those switches, which at first glance look like they could be keyswitches with DSA keycaps. But no, they’re just some cool switches from the depths of Digi-Key.

Want to print yourself something more ergonomic? Perhaps you’ll click with Ploopy, the open-source trackball.

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Inputs Of Interest: Canadian MCM/70 Was Kinda Like The First Cyberdeck

February 23, 2022 by Kristina Panos 30 Comments

Not to start a debate in the comments or anything, but what would you say was the first microcomputer, or personal computer? We suppose the answer depends on your definition. Some would argue that the PC was born at Xerox PARC with a curious portrait-mode display and a three-button mouse, while others would say it all began in a garage in either Los Altos, California or Albuquerque, New Mexico.

If you take the term ‘computer’ to mean that which can crunch big numbers fairly quickly, then the Canadian-made MCM/70 is arguably the first personal computer in that it is portable, has an alphanumeric keyboard, a display, and supports cassette storage, which could be used to extend the 8K of memory. It was an all-in-one computing solution, and it could have an optional telephone modem built in. This was a forward-thinking machine for 1974.

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Hackaday Podcast 156: 3D-Printing Rainbows, Split-Flap Clocks, Swapping EV Car Batteries, And Floppy Time

February 18, 2022 by Kristina Panos 2 Comments

This week, Hackaday Editor-in-Chief Elliot Williams and Assignments Editor Kristina Panos fawn over a beautiful Italian split-flap clock that doesn’t come cheap, and another clock made of floppies that could be re-created for next to nothing. We’ll also sing the praises of solderless circuitry for prototyping and marvel over a filament dry box with enough sensors to control an entire house. The finer points of the ooh, sparkly-ness of diffraction gratings will be discussed, and by the end of the show, you’ll know what we each like in a microscope.

Take a look at the links below if you want to follow along, and as always, tell us what you think about this episode in the comments!

(And if you’re wondering about what my joke about not having Kristina on the show for 28 seconds, and all the professionalism, was about — we both forgot to press record the first time through and got ~15 minutes into the show before noticing. Yeah. But we had a good time the second time around anyway.)

Direct Download (The best 40 MB you’ll download today!)

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Anti-Curl Sandpaper Storage Is Impressive

February 15, 2022 by Kristina Panos 15 Comments

Maybe it’s the humidity, maybe it’s the cold weather. Something is making [Laura Kampf]’s nice fabric-backed sandpaper curl up into scrolls the second it comes out of the package. So you can understand why she urgently wanted to make a storage system that would be easy to flip through like a record bin, but also provide enough pressure to keep the papers flat.

Although [Laura] didn’t know what exactly the end result would be, she got started on it anyway — that’s a great way to get more projects off the drawing board and past the finish line. It worked out, because she got a great idea while building the box and using nice cam clamps to hold the finger joints together as the glue dried. Since she already had a bunch of these cam clamps in different lengths lying around, why not use a couple of them for this?

[Laura] has two major classifications of sandpaper — paper-backed and fabric-backed — and built them separate boxen using two clamps for each box. She joined the pins with a DIY handle in order to move the cams in unison, so all she has to do is pull out to flip through the papers, and push the handle back and down to re-pressurize the stack for storage. Be sure to check out the build and demo video after the break.

While DIY clamps are often wood and metal affairs, it’s good to have 3D printing in your corner.

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“So Long,” Said All The Tank-Driving Fish

February 15, 2022 by Kristina Panos 19 Comments

Though some of us are heavily assisted by smart phone apps and delivery, humans don’t need GPS to find food. We know where the fridge is. The grocery store. The drive-thru. And we don’t really need a map to find shelter, in the sense that shelter is easily identifiable in a storm. You might say that our most important navigation skills are innate, at least when we’re within our normal environment. Drop us in another city and we can probably still identify viable overhangs, cafes, and food stalls.

The question is, do these navigational skills vary by species or environment? Or are the tools necessary to forage for food, meet mates, and seek shelter more universal? To test the waters of this question, Israeli researchers built a robot car and taught six fish to navigate successfully toward a target with a food reward. This experiment is one of domain transfer methodology, which is the exploration of whether a species can perform tasks outside its natural environment. Think of all the preparation that went into Vostok and Project Mercury.

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Dead Mouse Reincarnated As Macropad

February 15, 2022 by Kristina Panos 9 Comments

[Taylor] wanted to join the cool kids club and build a macropad for CAD work and video editing, but didn’t want to do it the traditional way with an Arduino. We can get behind that. In fact, [Taylor] wanted to reuse some old piece of tech if possible, which is even better. With a little luck, they found a used gaming mouse with a set of 12 tiny macro buttons on the side that were ripe for reuse. Only the scroll wheel was reported to be broken.

After verifying that all the macro buttons worked, [Taylor] tore down the mouse and extracted the daughterboard, then removed the sticker that held the rubber dome actuators in place. Then they wired up twelve Kailh box jades to the pads, doing some nice diagonal work with bare 30 AWG wire to join all the common pins together.

[Taylor] designed and printed a simple enclosure that’s a slim 21.5 mm tall including the switch plate, and then made a dozen keycaps to match. That was until [Taylor] remembered some relegendable keycaps they had lying around — the kind that let you print your own labels and trap them underneath clear plastic. The only problem was that they are stemmed for some cylindrical actuator, so [Taylor] designed an adapter piece so they would fit on MX-style sliders. Be sure to check out the build video after the break.

If for some reason box jades aren’t clicky and satisfying enough for you, try making your own maglev Hall-effect switches. These days, you even have design options.

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Spin Some Spudgers From Secondhand Silverware

February 12, 2022 by Kristina Panos 20 Comments

Even though it’s not the right tool for the job, we’ve all used a flat head screwdriver for other purposes. Admit it — you’ve pried open a thing or two with that one in the toolbox that’s all dirty and dinged up anyway. But oftentimes, screwdrivers just aren’t thin enough. What you need is a spudger, which for some reason, seem to only come in plastic. Blame our disposable times.

In a relevant break from building electronics, [lonesoulsurfer] took the time to craft a set of spudgers and such from secondhand silverware. These are all made from spoons and butter knives sourced from a thrift store. For the spoons, [lonesoulsurfer] removed the heads with an angle grinder, shaped them on a belt sander, and thinned them out until they were spudger-slim. After doing the same with the handle end, [lonesoulsurfer] polished up the new tools on the wheel with some compound.

Not all of these are spudgers — some are destined to scrape, and others for lifting badges and decals. But they all live in harmony in a handy carrying case. Check out the build video after the break.

On the other hand, sometimes a disposable tool is all you really need.

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